It was a win to make even Wayne Bennett crack a smile. The NRL’s newest team and the game’s greatest coach pulled off one of the great rugby league ambushes, as the Dolphins demolished the Sydney Roosters 28-18 at Suncorp Stadium.
Written off by pundits as a motley squad of has-beens, loose cannons and rough diamonds and widely tipped to collect the wooden spoon in their inaugural season, the Dolphins, the NRL’s long-awaited 17th team, showed courage and character to defeat one of the glamour side’s of the competition in a round one thriller.