Round 2 vs. St George Illawarra Dragons Discussion

[Big Pete]

Dolphins vs. St George Illawarra Dragons
Kayo Stadium, Sunday 17 March 2024
Kick Off: 5:15pm (AEST)

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jake Averillo 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jack Bostock 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Thomas Flegler 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Euan Aitken 13. Max Plath

14. Josh Kerr 15. Kenny Bromwich 16. Mark Nicholls 17. Jarrod Wallace

18. Kurt Donoghoe 19. Sean O'Sullivan 20. Oryn Keeley 21. Tesi Niu 22. Mason Teague

1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Zac Lomax 3. Moses Suli 4. Jack Bird 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Ben Hunt 8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Tom Eisenhuth 12. Jaydn Su'A 13. Jack de Belin

14. Connor Muhleisen 15. Michael Molo 16. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 17. Luciano Leilua

18. Viliami Fifita 19. Christian Tuipulotu 20. Jesse Marschke 21. Ben Murdoch-Masila 22. Hame Sele​

 

[Big Pete]

Both Connelly Lemuelu (knee) and Ray Stone (concussion) will be unavailable for Sunday's clash against the Dragons. I'd presume we'll see Euan Aitken come into the 17 for Lemuelu, with either Oryn Keeley or Mason Teague coming in for Stone.

I don't expect to see too many changes in tomorrow's team list Tuesday. I think Bennett will be keeping those close to the vest and we probably won't find out if there's been any unforced changes until later in the week. Bennett was very disappointed with the last tackle options and noted the Cowboys managed to score points off of their fifth tackle options, whereas the Dolphins were quite poor by comparison.

St George is riding high after a strong second half showing against the Gold Coast. They'll have plenty of confidence and last year they piled on the points in their first meeting of the season. The Dolphins will need to show some defensive resolve and frustrate the Dragons into error if they're to open their accounts for 2024.

 

[Big Pete]

Teams are in and Bennett has wasted no time naming four changes to the team. As expected Lemuelu (knee) and Stone (concussion) will miss the game through injury. Euan Aitken has come straight into the starting line-up for Connelly, while Max Plath has been elevated from the bench with Wallace coming onto the bench.

Bennett has also made a statement dropping both Niu and O'Sullivan. Usually when teams play on Sunday, coaches usually save these late changes until the last minute, but Bennett has gone on the front foot and put his squad on notice. I don't think anybody could argue either selection - the Averillo/Farnworth pairing is what we all expected before the trials.

Meanwhile O'Sullivan has really struggled since he tore his pec against the Broncos and was poor again on the weekend. Katoa reportedly played well against Norths in their big win over the Bears and he's clearly got a ton of upside. Isaiya is clearly a work in progress, but he has all the tools and at the very least it's a more exciting selection.

Then there's the Dragons who appear to be going from strength to strength. Both Blake Lawrie and Luciano Leilua will play their first games of the season following the Dragons 28-4 victory over the Titans. I think a fast start will be important here, an early lead just to test the Dragon's mettle. I'd be looking to move them around with the footy, and especially try to go after Suli & Ravalawa in defence while trying to isolate Benny Hunt.

 

[MugaB]

The fact the dragons have both BMM and Hame Sele not even making the run on side is a worry, this dragons squad is stacked, the only guy i don't know is their 14= Connor Muhleisen, dolphins are probably going to be in a world of hurt, better hope the coaches wise up and switch herbie to the other centre on bostocks wing and have averillo and isaako link up together, it was a shame jamayne had fk all ball, herbie can be a bit of a hog. also noticed a welcome addition in jarrod wallace, his ball playing seems to free up the halves and cause havok in the middle, (like my man Yeoweh) I'm gonna assume wayne is playing silly buggers, and wallace starts at 13 with plath off the bench... not confident in a phins up win here fellas, but if all goes well, a cracking game

 

[Puff]

Muhleisen, young hooker. Good youngster.

 

[Puff]

I’d say with the changes made we will look better.

The major change being SoS. I don’t rate him at all. I don’t even rate him as qld cup standard.

 

[PhinsUp889]

It’s a better looking team on paper this week. Obviously games aren’t won there, but it’s a positive that SOS and Tesi have been taken out.

Problem is still aging forwards. I see we’re targeting the young bloke from the Cowboys. Hopefully we can bring in 1-2 younger forwards next year with Bromich retiring and quite a few others nearing the end / off contract.

 

[Puff]

I noted an article where Bennett suggests we are millions under the cap.

Their objective is not to sign people for the sake of signing people.

They are looking for the right fit, whilst trying to minimize recruitment errors.

 

[Big Pete]

Dolphins 38 (Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 3, Jamayne Isaako, Mark Nicholls, Jake Averillo, Jeremy Marshall-King tries; Jamayne Isaako 5/7 goals) def. St George Illawarra Dragons 0

1-1

Phins Up!

The boys responded well after last week's disappointing effort. Took their chances early, played to their strengths and showed some resilience with two players off for HIAs.

A lot of positives to draw and arguably the best Dolphins win to date.

I bet you enjoyed that one @Puff

 

[MugaB]

Man was I completely wrong, that was a perfect hit out, even with the Hia's and reshuffling of players dolphins still managed to whip the dragons, way too much speed for the opposition, averillo had a great game, i dont see tesu nui getting another look in, its almost like the poor performance from last week transferred over to the dragons, actually they didn't d too much wrong, it was mainly just the pressure the dolphins put them under, well done phins

 

[Puff]

I dont see SoS playing first grade again either.

Katoa was excellent

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Onya Dolphins!

As my second team I am proud of ya.