Dolphins captain Jesse Bromwich has revealed his side won their Round 4 clash against the Gold Coast Titans while Max Plath was in the sin bin.
The Dolphins' lock forward was sin binned in the lead up to halftime of the game after a tackle gone wrong, with an ugly hip drop tackle seeing Titans' winger Phillip Sami left in pain.
At that stage, the Dolphins were behind 10 points to 6 after a fast start from the Titans, but the Dolphins were able to keep the Titans at bay for the entire ten minutes, and then score a second try of their own on the stroke of halftime. Jamayne Isaako's goal-kicking ensured they went into the halftime break ahead 12 points to 10.
"[My message at 10-0 down] was to go back to what we have been practicing all week, our processes and what we do well. We play a pretty simple style, but it takes hard work to do it. I thought we did that really well once Max went off, started playing Dolphins footy and getting the job done," Bromwich said during the post-match press conference.
"I thought it was a really good part of the game. We wanted to try and finish the half on top even though we were a man down for ten minutes. I thought we finished that half on top, and then to be able to go out there and start the second half with the energy and effort we had, that's where we won the game."
Coach Wayne Bennett was equally as pleased with his side despite their slow start.
"We are pretty pleased with ourselves. We had our moments, went through some tough moments at 10-0 down with a guy in the sin bin, but we kept fighting, kept battling, found a way to keep them away from the tryline and picked up a couple of tries. It was good," Bennett said on the win.
The coach admitted having a bye so early in the season had left him apprehensive ahead of the game, with it being the catalyst for their slow start.
"It was a difficult week for us. The bye in Week 2 or Week 3 is not what you want in football. We had to come out there and start, and it felt like we haven't played football for ages. We stumbled a little bit there early, but got back on track, got into our groove and that was probably my apprehension earlier in the week about what was in front of us - getting over the bye," Bennett said.
Plath's likely suspension is the biggest issue for the Dolphins coming out of the game, with the lock forward sin binned.
Some on social media suggested it could even have been a send off, with the tackle bending Sami backwards.
Bennett said the hip drop is a 'difficult area.'
"Max is such a valued part of the team and the boys think so highly of him that the boys said we aren't going to let him down for ten minutes.
"They'll have to look at it. The hip drop is a difficult area. Max Plath hasn't got a dirty bone in his body so it was never intentional. We don't coach it, we don't talk about it and we don't practice anything like that. If it's gone wrong, it's gone wrong and we will have to pay the consequences. As I said, I haven't seen it well enough."
The Dolphins, who hold a two and one record, play the Wests Tigers in Brisbane next week, before tough games against the Brisbane Broncos, Parramatta Eels (in Darwin) and Newcastle Knights round out April.