Wayne Bennett has hailed the Dolphins' pre-season as one of his best preparations in almost 50 years of coaching, praising the condition of his players ahead of round one of the NRL.
"We have done a lot of player testing in the past weeks about fitness levels and body mass, and I have got to say they are all at the top of their game," Bennett said at the Dolphins' season launch on Friday.
"There is nobody in the fat club. They have all made sure they stayed out of there, which is another sign of their commitment to each other.
"I don't think I've had a pre-season (like it) in a long time with a team."
Prop Josh Kerr lost 10kg over the off-season, as did blockbusting centre Valynce Te Whare, while Tesi Niu revealed last month he had shed eight kilos.
Bennett will helm the Dolphins for his final year as head coach in 2024 and Kerr said the 74-year-old was as driven as ever - with the players responding in kind.
"Wayne is awesome with bringing the standards up at training and always harping on about it," Kerr said.
"He came in the first day of pre-season and let us know about standards. All the boys have had it as a talking point that he wants to go out on a high."
The Dolphins kick off their season against North Queensland at Suncorp Stadium on March 10.
Last year the Dolphins were tipped by many pundits to come last and barely win a game in their inaugural year, but they tasted victory nine times on their way to a 13th-placed finish.
Bennett gave a brief speech to the Dolphins faithful at the Queensland Art Gallery on Friday evening.
He made no promises about making the finals, but he did provide hope.
"Last year we made no promises about whether we would do this or that. I told you last year that I expect them to do their best," Bennett said.
"They did that. That is all I ask of them this year, to go out there and make themselves proud of each other and you proud of them.
"Do that and we give ourselves a real chance of being a competitive football team and the club we want to become."
