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Broncos bracing for brutal Madge camp | 02:47
Dolphins star Jamayne Isaako believes new coach Kristian Woolf can break the Wayne Bennett curse, and help lead the expansion club to success.
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Woolf, who was an assistant under Bennett at the Dolphins in 2023 and 2024, takes the helm at the NRL’s newest club with Bennett now at South Sydney.
This is the first full time NRL head coaching job that Woolf has held. He was the Knights’ interim coach for two games in 2019 after Nathan Brown stood down.
Despite the lack of NRL head coaching experience, Woolf boasts a glittering CV which includes three Super League premierships with St Helens and a Pacific Championships final with Tonga.
History has shown that succeeding Bennett hasn’t been easy.
All five coaches that have replaced Bennett since 2009 were gone within three seasons.
These are Ivan Henjak (Broncos), Steve Price (Dragons), Rick Stone (Knights), Anthony Seibold (Broncos) and Jason Demetriou (Souths).
Woolf is hoping to buck that horror trend.
The Dolphins headed to the Sunshine Coast earlier this week for a pre-season camp, three weeks before their first trial game.
Isaako says life under Woolf has so far been “a bit different” than it was when Bennett was in charge.
It has been a bit different (to Bennett) but in saying that Woolfy is doing a really good job,” Isaako said via Code Sports.
“I’m enjoying being coached by him and the new style of coaching he brings.
“The competitive nature he has is similar to Wayne. He’s got everyone competing really hard on and off the field.
“I see a lot of similarities in the way he coaches with Wayne. I’m interested to see how the season goes.
“Heading into trials, we’ve been doing things a bit different that Woolfy has introduced which is interesting.”
