Dolphins head coach Kristian Woolf has heaped praise on his spine after the club's first win in the post Wayne Bennett era.
While Bennett couldn't get the Dolphins to the finals in either of his two years with the club, Kristian Woolf's time in charge has started with a horror four-game losing streak.
That finally flipped around on Saturday evening, with the Redcliffe-based outfit beating Queensland rivals the Gold Coast Titans in a 36 points to 10 demolition job.
The Dolphins were on from the word go, with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow crossing for his first try of the year in the ninth minute, and Daniel Saifiti, who could rapidly become one of the buys of the year if he continues putting up consistently big numbers, scoring in the 24th.
Woolf said his spine were fantastic during the game, with all of Tabuai-Fidow, five-eighth Kodi Nikorima, halfback Isaiya Katoa and hooker Jeremy Marshall-King all turning out with
"They [the spine] were all good tonight. They combined really well as a 9-6-7-1, and we played a fair bit of footy," Woolf said during his post-match press conference.
"At times we could have been a little bit more disciplined with that, but I love the way they kept going at it as well, and when you know the team is going to turn around and defend the way they were, it allows you to be a bit more confident with what you're doing with the footy, so it was good to see.strong performances."
Tabuai-Fidow has come under significant pressure over the opening month for perceived poor performances, but Woolf said it was up to his team to get the Queensland Maroons State of Origin star the ball in the right areas.
"As I said last week, I think Hammer has been improving every week. We have a responsibility as a group to get him the ball. We did that a little bit more tonight. You can see how dangerous he is with the ball, how well he was moving and I'm sure it helps him," Woolf said.
"I think it does take a bit of the monkey off the back, but it also gives you a bit of confidence in what you're doing as well."
Woolf also heaped praise on young halfback Isaiya Katoa.
"He [Katoa] was really good. He has been one of our best over the first five weeks. You can see him growing in confidence, running the footy more, playing what he sees a bit more. He is obviously an excellent player in the making and he is a good young man to back that up as well. He is very level headed and it's going to be great watching him get better and better, the NRL rookie head coach said.
The Dolphins will now face the daunting prospect of facing a disappointed Penrith Panthers outfit, who have won just one of their first five games and sit in the bottom four on the table.
Woolf said the four-time premiers are still the competitions' benchmark though, with his side also set to battle a five-day turnaround into the game, which will be played in the Queensland capital.
"I think it's a good thing we are on a short turnaround. We don't have too much time to worry about that, we straight into another game," Woolf said.
"They [The Panthers] are in a tough position, but they are still the Panthers, they are still the benchmark of the competition. They have so many good players, so many things going for them as a team, so we know what sort of contest it's going to be."
