Dolphins welcome Bennett back for hyped NRL blockbuster

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Dolphins welcome Bennett back for hyped NRL blockbuster

Two months ago Wayne Bennett pre-empted the hype around next season’s confirmed round-one clash between the Dolphins and South Sydney with a typical quip.

“Next year I am sure there will be a lot of interest in the Rabbitohs versus Dolphins, but one thing you can bet on is that I won’t be buying into the bulls***,” Bennett joked at the Dolphins’ presentation night.

The former Dolphins coach, now at the helm of the Rabbitohs, returns to Suncorp Stadium on March 7 for a Friday night blockbuster where a crowd of 40,000-plus is on the cards.

His former assistant Kristian Woolf will coach his first NRL game after a seamless transition following Bennett’s exit.

Dolphins CEO Terry Reader said it was “a wonderful way to kick off 2025” for fans and members.

“We welcome Wayne back and Woolfy will be there in his first official game as our head coach, even though he’s been here from the start,” Reader told AAP.

“One thing about rugby league is that it provides storylines and narratives. I have no doubt Woolfy and Wayne will want to get one over each other on that opening night, and more importantly get their teams off to a winning start. What an occasion.”

Bennett’s exit from the Dolphins was on the best of terms, in stark contrast to his bitter parting with Brisbane after they sacked him in 2018.

He did a post-season press conference with the former Queensland premier about funding for the Dolphins’ new centre of excellence.

Just days before officially taking over at the Rabbitohs, Bennett also attended a function with club partners to detail the impact the Dolphins have had in the Moreton Bay region.

“Wayne was very involved until the very end and we will be indebted to him for what he helped set up,” Reader said.

“Thankfully we had Kristian there doing it all with him and now he takes over.”

Bennett’s presentation-night speeches are traditionally less than five minutes. His last words at the Dolphins were moving and full of optimism for a club he was so integral in setting up.

“When I look at the Dolphins’ future I have great confidence in it. We have some wonderful young players and I have no doubt about their future,” Bennett said.

“I am confident in Kristian. I worked with him for two years on a deal we had all worked out before he came.

“He will do a wonderful job and has a team that will play for him and will help the Dolphins become one of the great sides in the competition. It is two or three years away, but it will happen.

“To the playing group … I have great admiration for you. I am a 37-year NRL coach and I am as proud of you as I have been of any team I have coached.

“Thanks for your support and I hope we meet again somewhere.”

That “somewhere” will be the 74-year-old’s field of dreams. The master coach may well say he won’t be buying into the hullabaloo around his Suncorp Stadium return, but his presentation-night one-liner had the crowd in stitches and ensured interest will be sky-high.

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