‘Wayne played a huge role’: New skipper opens up on captaining Dolphins against old coach

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“They’re the things that matter the most. And obviously, coming here every day and leading by actions is the best thing.

“And then when the game comes, doing what the team needs of me.

“I probably won’t pay 80 minutes, but if I need to do it, I will do it because it’s about the team and putting the team first.

“That’s why I play and why everyone will play and that’s the expectation that Dolphins will have from each other this year.”

Woolf wants Gilbert to be himself and lean on the other senior players in the team as he gets used to the new role.

“He said not to change much, obviously I’ve got to do a toss now and have a little decisions around that,” Gilbert said.

“And a lot of decisions on the field will come from me, so just being aware of where we are in a game and situation and making sure that, I know the right things to do that will suit our game plan.

“And there’s little things that I’ll have to think of, but I’m lucky enough I’ve got enough smart players around me to help in those decisions just as well.”

While honoured to lead the Dolphins, Gilbert is more focused on his first NRL game since 2023 when they host the Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium.

“It’s probably a different feeling I’m back playing, to be honest,” Gilbert said.

“I’m just looking forward to embracing this week. I’m really happy to be back playing with the squad.

“Obviously leading the boys is going to be a privilege come Friday night, so I’m just worried about my preparation and getting my body right and my mind thrown right this weekend.”

Making his captaincy debut and return from injury even more special will be coming up against his former coach Bennett, who leads Souths in an NRL game for the first time since the 2021 Grand Final.

But Gilbert believes the Dolphins are still very much a team in Bennett’s image.

“We haven’t changed a lot, it was a smooth transition,” Gilbert said.

“Wayne played a huge role in our club and the funny thing is the way we play this year will be a by-product of the stuff he’s done over the last two years.

“He coached us and mentored us for two years, so he knows us well enough but one thing I’ll say is Wayne will worry about the Rabbitohs too and that’s his biggest strength and he’s not worried about what’s out there and as us we’ll respect that and we respect them as a team and as a club.”

Souths are down on troops with two of their biggest stars in Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Murray sidelined with injury, but Gilbert has seen this movie before with the Dolphins under Wayne and they are ready for an ambush.

“There’s probably been no discussion from us on Souths being down on strength,” Gilbert said.

“Wayne was here last year when we lost a lot of players throughout the year and we know what a wonderful job he can do under pressure and those kind of things.

“Cameron Murray and Latrell are class players, but I’ve no doubt that they have a lot of depth in that squad that blokes can fill in, so we’ll have absolute respect in our preparation for the Rabbitohs this week and we know what any Wayne Bennett side can do so we’ll respect them and do the best we can to do the prepare for that.”

Despite such a long lay-off, Gilbert isn’t feeling worried about his knee and is just excited to play an NRL game again with his teammates.

“No, not with the knee really, I’m just nervous then I’m excited for Friday night,” Gilbert said.

“Back playing footy. I realised with my time off that it’s a privilege to play this game and it’s not a given, so I’m just going to take one game at a time and this weekend it’s the Rabbitohs and I’m really excited for that.

“I’m lucky with the support I’ve had from the club and from the medical staff that, I feel like I’m in the best physical frame and mental frame I have been for a while and that makes me not worry too much about my knee.”

The star forward revealed he will be prepared to play 80 minutes if that’s what it takes to beat Souths.

“Not really sure about minutes, I don’t think it’ll be 80, but I think I’ve been enough and I’m ready enough to do what the team needs, so if I need 80 minutes, I can do it for this team,” Gilbert said.

Making the clash even harder is the chance of Tropical Cyclone Alfred making conditions tough, but Gilbert isn’t worrying about things he can’t control.

“Like any week you get different conditions and you’ve got to play the conditions,” Gilbert said.

“We’re keeping it a normal week right now we’ll just play it day by day and if that comes on Friday we’ll just adjust to the conditions but business as usual.

“Never done it before, so we’ll find out but probably similar to wet weather footy.”