Dolphins Reject Cyclone Alfred as Excuse for Disappointing Knights Loss

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Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf and skipper Tom Gilbert have refused to blame their side’s lacklustre performance on the impact of Cyclone Alfred.

The 17th franchise’s preparations have been impacted for both their first and second appearances, going down to the Rabbitohs before a 26-12 loss to the Knights on Thursday.

In Round 1, the Dolphins were scrambling to find transport home, while ahead of Round 2 they had to abandon their Redcliffe base and relocate to Newcastle early.

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Tropical Cyclone Alfred left their training facilities without power and Kayo Stadium flooded, but that was no excuse according to Woolf.

“It’s obviously been a little bit different, but it’s not excuse for us,” Woolf said in the post-match press conference.

“We are not looking for excuses… we have handled the two weeks really well I think as a group and as a club.

“We’ve been really proud and really impressed with how people have put their hands up and wanted to get on with their jobs and get the preparation right.

“Obviously we didn’t play how we wanted to tonight, but I don’t see the last couple of weeks as any reason for that.”

Gilbert then echoed his coach, lamenting the Dolphins’ start to the season, missing out on four crucial competition points.

“It’s obviously four points now that we have lost, so we don’t use it as an excuse,” Gilbert said.

“I think we had great preparation, the club did a lot of great things for us to make sure we were ready tonight.

“I look back on the last two weeks and I think we had two good opportunities to get those four points, it’s disappointing.

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“It’s not an excuse, if anything it was a great opportunity to start our season off.”

Woolf was also asked about the amount of roll ball penalties the Dolphins conceded, and he was clearly frustrated with his side’s discipline.

“I was really disappointed with that part actually,” he said.

“That was something we haven’t had a drama with throughout the trials and Round 1.

“It is obviously something we have to address, it hurt us a bit tonight, there’s no doubt there and it was a bit disappointing.”