How Bennett sold Dolphins six appeal to Averillo

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How Bennett sold Dolphins six appeal to Averillo

Jake Averillo starred in his first start at five-eighth for the Dolphins last week and coach Wayne Bennett has backed him to do it again in the biggest game of his life.

Averillo, who had previously played centre for the entire season, scored two tries and set up two others in the 40-6 blitz of Brisbane on Saturday night.

The 24-year-old will line up at No.6 away to Newcastle on Sunday. The winner will finish eighth and play finals. The ****** can prepare for **** Monday.

“I can’t wait. It is set up pretty nicely for this last game with everything on the line,” Averillo said.

“It is pretty much a finals game for us. It is do or ****. I am excited.”

Bennett said prior to moving Averillo ahead of the Broncos game it was “a risk,” but added he had played there before as a junior and at Canterbury. The punt paid off.

Averillo said the coach didn’t complicate it.

“Wayne just told me in the team meeting that I was going to play five-eighth,” Averillo said.

“He keeps it simple for me and he is honest. He doesn’t let you dwell on things too much. He just tells it how it is and that works well for me.

“I just wanted to play a simple game. I trained how I wanted to play and then played to my strengths which is my running game.”

Dolphins half Sean O’Sullivan complemented Averillo to perfection against the Broncos in one of the best games of his career.

“His kicking game put a lot of pressure on the Broncos and he took a lot of pressure off me to be able to run the ball,” Averillo said.

“I didn’t have to do too much organising.”

Averillo said O’Sullivan’s kicking game would be vital to limiting the time and space of Knights fullback and talisman Kalyn Ponga on Sunday.

The Dolphins welcome back captain Jesse Bromwich and versatile Kodi Nikorima from concussion for the Knights match. Bromwich will slot in at prop while Nikorima, who can play *******, halves and fullback, is set to come off the bench.

The Dolphins had lost nine from 12 before the Broncos win and Averillo said the victory could be a turning point.

“It gives us all a lot of confidence. That is how we were playing at the start of the season,” he said.

“We hadn’t been playing well in our second halves so it was good to get a complete performance.”

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