"We want you."
Three words from veteran Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett was all it took for hard-hitting prop Thomas Flegler to decide to make a switch to the club in 2024.
Flegler's switch is one of the bigger ones in 2024, with the prop coming off a huge season at the Broncos where he returned to the Queensland State of Origin set-up under Billy Slater.
His influence as part of a middle third rotation at the Broncos alongside Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas - also Origin players - helped drag the Red Hill-based outfit into the top four, before they eventually fell short in the grand final against the Penrith Panthers.
But that is now in the past for Flegler who is putting in the hard yards ahead of his first season as a Dolphin where he will be expected to lead the forward pack, with the club looking to push their way towards a first finals berth.
The star prop though said it was Bennett who pushed him over the line to sign a contract with the NRL's most recent expansion outfit.
"Wayne is pretty blunt. He just said 'Tom, we want you'. We had a few little chats, but we only spoke literally twice and with a resume like that, he doesn't need to say too much to get people over the line," Flegler told the media on Tuesday.
Flegler also said he was looking forward to learning off Bennett.
"His resume speaks for itself and he is probably the greatest coach in the game," Flegler said.
"To be able to come here and get a year under him and learn off him for a year was outstanding for me, and hopefully I can learn a few things off him and take them into the coming years."
The Dolphins start their 2024 campaign against the North Queensland Cowboys in Brisbane, before playing the St George Illawarra Dragons in Redcliffe.
Tommy you Herbie a Crazy to leave a great club like Brisbane, just to play 1 year under Bennett. Just remember he also lost his last grand final he coached , and the last time he won a GF was the dragons 2010. You’s will probably never play a grand final again in your careers, because after Wayne gose the phins will b 10 years away from getting there. Even know the dolphins R my second team , wolf just hasn’t proved anything yet and the NRL is a very tuff comp to win. Wayne couldn’t do it with the bunny’s who had a pretty good team , good half, good back and the front were pretty dam good to. There’s average talent at the dolphins , half’s r still young forwards r to old and the backs other then Herbie an the hammer will fall short of a GF winning team.
Dolphins: 8-9th
Broncos: top 4
Cowboys: 14th