Wayne Bennett was at his wry best in summing up the Dolphins’ 43-18 loss to the Cowboys and provided an update on the fitness of luckless forward Tom Gilbert.
The Dolphins’ defensive woes from last season returned in their season opener, but Bennett refused to overreact to one bad day at the office.
“No doubt about that,” Bennett said when asked if it was a disappointing performance from his side.
The only place to watch every game of every round LIVE with no ad-breaks during play is Fox League, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Should this have been a penalty try? | 00:44
When pressed on what was the most disappointing aspect Bennett said: “Obviously the fifth and last plays. They scored four or five tries of that.
“They found us out in fifth and last plays.
“They didn’t find us out in too many other areas if you look at the game in that context.
“I mean what did they get five tries from fifth and last plays?”
Bennett provided an update on the fitness of Gilbert, who had a blood clot which delayed his operation to repair an ACL injury.
“I can tell you what we know and what we know is there is no definite conclusion about when the operation is going to be,” Bennett said.
MORE NRL NEWS
WHISPERS: Dragons chasing Wallabies star to replace Lomax; Suaalii’s $4.5m backflip
UPDATE: Twist in Leniu saga amid report ‘derogatory’ remark provoked Roosters star
CASUALTY WARD: Injured Dolphins star suffers ‘major setback; Addo-Carr cleared
‘QUITE HAPPY’: Flanno’s sledge for critics after Dragons open season with a bang
Cowboys dominate Phins to go top! | 01:01
“He did have a blood clot. That has been resolved. It is an ongoing examination with the doctors and we don’t have a definitive answer about what is going to happen and when it is going to happen and we are not going to speculate on it.
“They (operations) vary. He was never going to play this season anyway, so no one was rushing to get him an operation.
“It’s no more serious than the day he injured his leg. He is OK. He is here today. He is fine.”
Adding to the injury ward Connelly Lemuelu suffered a suspected dislocated kneecap.
“That is what we are thinking, but we are not certain on that yet,” Bennett said.
Herbie Farnworth and Tom Flegler were strong on debut, with the latter scoring a try and impressing his captain and front row partner Jesse Bromwich.
“I thought Flegler made a real good impact,” Bromwich said.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
Cowboys the blueprint for new NRL rules | 05:25
“I thought defensively he added a lot of starch to our middle.
“Obviously the whole team is pretty disappointed, so we will look at what we need to fix and work really hard at doing that.”
A stoic Bennett remains confident he has the right players at the club to turn things around.
“I have got a good group of guys there that work really hard and are committed to the club,” Bennett said.
“We just had a bad day. We have got 23 games to go, so if we put it behind us pretty quickly we will be a lot better off than if we drag it out and make it worse than what it was. That’s what we have got to handle now.”
Eels run riot over battered Bulldogs | 02:10
However, Bennett refused to guarantee players a second chance in Round 2.
“No I haven’t,” Bennett said when asked if he would give the players four weeks like he did last year.
“Absolutely (we will make changes). It looks like we have got a couple of injuries there, so that will be a starting point.
“At the moment they are all in my mind, so it is just a case of sorting it out.
“I just need to keep us stable. Don’t overreact and make sure we don’t listen to the media or read any papers or watch any television. That’s our plan for the week. I am good at it.”
Discussion about this post