The Dolphins were something of a surprise packet for much of their first season in the NRL before fading late, at one point being well in contention for a top-eight finish.

Wayne Bennett's side were widely tipped to be a bottom-four contender in their first season, and while they finished at the wrong end of the table, a mix of the lack of depth and injuries impacted them greatly.

2024 will see the arrivals of Herbie Farnworth and Thomas Flegler from the Brisbane Broncos which will help things in the right direction, but there are still additions needed for 2025.

With plenty of talent off-contract and the club to enter their second era in 2025 - that being the end of Wayne Bennett's coaching stint and the start of Kristian Woolf's, this shapes up as an incredibly important 12 months to build the team with key signings from elsewhere.

In this series, Zero Tackle are running the rule over each team's state of play for 2025, and the players they need to be targeting from the November 1 deadline when all players off-contract at the end of 2024 become available to negotiate.

Current squad for 2025
Jake Averillo, Jack Bostock, Kenneath Bromwich, Herbie Farnworth, Thomas Flegler, Tom Gilbert, Harrison Graham, Jamayne Isaako, Isaiya Katoa, Felise Kaufusi, Josh Kerr, Connelly Lemuelu, Jeremy Marshall-King, Sean O'Sullivan, Max Plath, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow

Current best 17 for 2025
1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
2. Jack Bostock
3. Herbie Farnworth
4. Jake Averillo
5. Jamayne Isaako
6. Isaiya Katoa
7. Sean O'Sullivan
8. Thomas Flegler
9. Jeremy Marshall-King
10. Josh Kerr
11. Kenneath Bromwich
12. Felise Kaufusi
13. Tom Gilbert
14. Harrison Graham
15. Max Plath
16. Connelly Lemuelu
17. No player signed.

Players off-contract at end of 2024
Euan Aitken, Jesse Bromwich, Robert Jennings (mutual option), Brenko Lee, Edrick Lee, Anthony Milford, Mark Nicholls, Kodi Nikorima, Tesi Niu, Ray Stone, Valynce Te Whare, Mason Teague (mutual option), Jarrod Wallace

Here are five players available to negotiate for 2025 from outside of the club the Dolphins could target for 2025 and beyond.

EVERY PLAYER OFF-CONTRACT AT THE END OF 2024

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5. Terrell May

This list has felt very Roosters' based, but when you look at young props coming off-contract who have enormous upside but probably won't wipe out too much salary cap space, Terrell May is very close to, if not at, the top of the list.

The young prop has shown plenty for the Roosters, and nowhere was that more evident than during the 2023 finals series where he was superb for the tri-colours.

That level of standing up may not have quite as much chance to continue next year with Spencer Leniu coming in to take minutes, and despite the loss of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves being likely to retirement at the end of 2024, it's unclear whether May will want to hang around at Bondi into 2025.

He may not walk into a starting spot at the Dolphins, but he wouldn't be far away, and could ultimately in the long-term become one of the club's most important players if he was to- make the switch.

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