Wayne Bennett wants to lead the Dolphins to the finals in his last season with the club. Bennett will have his charges prepared with a big pre-season and ready to rip in early and maintain the rage over the full campaign, which could see them play September footy for the first time in their history. If the Dolphins can improve defensively they have no shortage of attacking players to light up the competition and score plenty of tries. Importantly the Dolphins have addressed a key weakness in their edge defence by bringing Herbie Farnworth and Jake Averillo to the club, while Thomas Flegler will help hold the middle third together. However, you would be a brave person to bet against the master coach leading the Dolphins to a maiden finals appearance in his final year at the club, before handing the reins to Kristian Woolf. Source: Getty ImagesĪnalysis: The Dolphins proved the critics wrong in their first year and were even in the top four early in the season, before injuries caught up with them at the back end of their campaign. Ricky Stuart’s Raiders could be in for a long year. Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. It would be a remarkable drop, but with the nine teams below them expected to improve the Raiders could find themselves with the most unwanted trophy in rugby league in 2024. The Raiders have a strong forward pack but it is also an ageing one and Josh Papalii and Elliott Whitehead are in the twilight of their careers.

He has plenty of talent, but is hardly a like for like replacement at this stage of his career. Replacing him is likely to be former Manly young gun Kaeo Weekes, but the 21-year-old has only played 12 NRL games and started just one in the No.6 jersey. Not only the team’s five-eighth and chief playmaker, Wighton drove standards on and off the field and was a key driver of the team’s defensive line with his physicality and aggression. Source: Getty Imagesīold prediction: Raiders to get the spoonĪnalysis: The Raiders made the top eight last season, but they will be a vastly different team after the departure of their best player in Jack Wighton. Reece Walsh’s Broncos avenge their Grand Final heartbreak.

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