Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has refused to entertain the idea of bringing in fresh faces to his injury-ravaged squad following another heavy loss.
The Dolphins were handed the biggest defeat of their 14-game existence when they were thumped 58-18 by the Sea Eagles on Friday night.
The expansion side also lost Brenko Lee (ankle) and Jeremy Marshall-King (shoulder) to injury, and the duo will join sidelined teammates Sean O’Sullivan, Anthony Milford, Jarrod Wallace and Tom Gilbert.
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Bennett was asked in his post-match press conference if he’d consider bringing in new blood to revitalise their season.
“I’m not going to bring players in mate, I’m not going to do that, I’m not that type of coach,” Bennett said.
“We’ve got a squad in there playing in the state league and we’ll get to the end of the season and if we have to make some tough decisions then, then we’ll make them.
“But right now I’m not going to bring people in and upset the ones I’ve already got here who played so well and done so much for us.
“We’ll live with what we’ve got and get to the end of the season.”
The Dolphins were widely tipped to struggle in their first season and after stunning start, they’ve come crashing back down to earth.
They’ve lost three of their past four games and conceded 88 points in their past two games.
Friday night was the second-worst defeat of Bennett’s first-grade career, which dates back to 1987.
Bennett conceded his side ran out of grit and determination, but said the bye will serve them well.
“We’ve been through so much and handled so much so well, I didn’t think we’d play that way tonight,” he said.
Dolphins Press Conference | 04:00
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“Look, I don’t think there’s a team in the comp that doesn’t have a bad game and we had ours tonight and I just hope it’s our last one and we’ll do everything we can to make sure it is our last one.
“The reality of the competition we’re in is you’re going to be up for a bit then you can find the scoreboard going against you and everything going against you.
“We just need to regroup right now and a week off will help us do that.”
Sea Eagles Press Conference | 03:59
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