Assistant coach Kristian Woolf of the Dolphins has dismissed the idea that, should Wayne Bennett not recover miraculously from the sickness, the match against Parramatta will reveal something about his coaching philosophy.
Bennett is unlikely to make the four-hour trip in the hours before his team plays on Friday, having not travelled to Darwin with the Dolphins on Wednesday night.
Woolf, who has already been selected as Bennett’s 2025 replacement, oversaw the captain’s run on Thursday night at TIO Stadium and is ready to take over as head coach.
“(Bennett) has obviously been pretty ill, otherwise he’d be here now,” Woolf stated.
This week, as he recovers, Bennett has communicated with his team on a regular basis.
His apparent successor made no mention of how plans would alter if he assumed leadership for an earlier-than-anticipated head coaching debut with the Dolphins.
“At the end of the day, it’s still (Bennett’s) team,” Woolf stated.
“We’re not changing things because he’s not here at the moment, we’re doing things exactly the same as what we usually do.”
Woolf, who was formerly the most sought-after young coach available, has been considered Bennett’s replacement since September 2022—before the Dolphins had even played a championship game.
With the exception of two games as Newcastle’s temporary coach in 2019, the 48-year-old has no experience in the position at an NRL team, despite having guided English team St Helens to three Super League grand final victories in as many seasons.
In addition, he coached Tonga to their historic victory against Australia in 2019 and guided the Pacific nation to its best-ever World Cup semi-final appearance.
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