Woolf praises team effort from Dolphins amid disrupted start

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf is impressed by how his team have pulled together amidst a disrupted start to their 2025 NRL Premiership campaign.

The Queensland-based side had their opening fixture against the Rabbitohs shifted to CommBank Stadium due to Cyclone Alfred bearing down on the state last week.

This week, they made the decision to head down to Newcastle early to begin preparations for their match against the Knights on Thursday evening.

• KNIGHTS v DOLPHINS NRL R2 BETTING TIPS & PREVIEW

While the past 10 days have not been ideal for the Dolphins logistically, Woolf says it has instilled a team spirit in the group.

“It’s been a little bit disrupted up there in Queensland,” he said.

“I’ve been really impressed with them. They’ve been great.

“Obviously there’s been a lot of moving around, trying to move 40-odd people across the country, across a few different cities, is difficult for everyone.

“A lot of people in the club have put their hands up and gone outside their usual job, and done that really willingly, because they want to help the team, and help the team prepare.

“Our blokes are really appreciative of that as well.”

The Dolphins were $2.44 underdogs across NRL betting sites heading into their clash with South Sydney last Friday.

While they fell 16-14 after leading for the majority of the match, Woolf is still taking plenty of positives from the performance.

“Our preparation has been short and it’s been a bit disrupted, so the key message has been about ourselves,” he said.

“I thought we played really well last week.

“We did a lot of things really well and had some periods there where we were quite dominant.

“There’s a couple of things that let us down around our execution, where we can just be a bit smarter at times.

“We get those couple of things right and back up the effort, then we’re going to be in games.”

The Dolphins will again be underdogs in Round 2, with top bookmakers pricing them at $2.45 to upset the Knights.

However, rugby league betting apps have the two teams on the same line of betting to win the premiership this season, pricing both clubs at $51.

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