The Dolphins slow build through their first two NRL seasons of existence almost resulted in finals footy during 2024, but it wasn't to be.
Now, ready to begin life under Kristian Woolf as Wayne Bennett moves onto the South Sydney Rabbitohs, it's time for this club to crack the top eight.
They will be hopeful of doing just that in 2025, but with a handful of their experienced campaigners from season one off-contract at the end of 2025 and unlikely to be re-signed, it could free up the cash they need to make another raid on the transfer market from November 1.
There is little doubt that at some point in the near future, the Dolphins are going to be a team to challenge. They have shown signs of it throughout their first two seasons, but depth has often been a sore point for the NRL's newest club.
That is something they must look to fix in the coming 12 months.
We will run the rule over all 17 clubs on Zero Tackle as the 2026 recruitment period gets underway to determine who their top targets are. Today, the Dolphinsโฆ
Current 2026 The Dolphins squad
Jake Averillo, Jack Bostock, Herbie Farnworth, Max Feagai, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, Thomas Flegler, Trai Fuller, Tom Gilbert, Jamayne Isaako, Isaiya Katoa, Oryn Keeley, Jeremy Marshall-King, Kodi Nikorima, Max Plath, Daniel Saifiti, Ray Stone, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Junior Tupou
Off-contract at end of 2025
Kenneath Bromwich, Harrison Graham, Robert Jennings, Felise Kaufusi, Josh Kerr, Connelly Lemuelu, Mark Nicholls, Sean O'Sullivan, Mason Teague
Current best 17 for 2026
1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
2. Jack Bostock
3. Jake Averillo
4. Herbie Farnworth
5. Jamayne Isaako
6. Kodi Nikorima
7. Isaiya Katoa
8. Thomas Flegler
9. Jeremy Marshall-King
10. Daniel Saifiti
11. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki
12. Tom Gilbert
13. Max Plath
Interchange
14. Oryn Keeley
15. Trai Fuller
16. Max Feagai
17. Ray Stone
Not in 17: Junior Tupou
On paper at least, the Dolphins look to have a relatively strong best 17, but there are certainly areas they will look to improve, and more importantly, add depth to a squad which has been challenged as soon as injuries have struck in recent seasons.
The potential impending and more importantly immediate signing of Ben Hunt could throw any idea of having money available out the window, but as it stands on November 1, that hasn't happened, and seems unlikely to do so anytime soon.
It's in the forwards the Dolphins will likely be most keen to add depth, but right across the side they could do with more suitable first-grade players.
Kodi Nikorima is maybe the biggest question mark anywhere in the starting 13. The utility did a strong job at five-eighth in 2024, but if the Dolphins want to become a premiership team, it's hard to see them doing that with him in the role.
2. Option 2: Tom Starling (Canberra Raiders)
This one could raise some eyebrows, but we aren't suggesting Starling's signing as a replacement for Jeremy Marshall-King.
Far from it. Marshall-King, when he arrived at the Dolphins was a stop-gap measure at dummy half, as he had been at the Canterbury Bulldogs when he first moved away from a role in the halves.
But ever since, he has become an excellent option at nine, and a walk-up starter at the Dolphins, as he would be at a number of NRL clubs.
Instead, Starling would play a similar role as he has been in the nation's capital - combining with someone, likely coming off the bench and creating plenty of explosive play out of the nine.
It would also potentially improve Marshall-King's output if he was playing less minutes and had a suitable number nine coming off the bench to break up the game and season.
This one just makes sense for the Dolphins, and would be another that doesn't break the bank.
