Phins down, Dolphins winless under new coach

 By Chase Christensen 

‘Disastrous’ is the best word to describe the first three weeks of the Dolphins 2025 NRL season. The local team are yet to accomplish a win so far this year under newly promoted head coach Kristian Woolf. After two moderately successful seasons, why are the Dolphins nose diving towards the bottom of the ladder?  

North Brisbane’s pride and joy played the Rabbitohs, Knights and Tigers in their three opening matches for 2025. They were narrowly defeated by the Rabbitohs who also didn’t look their best, but were slightly better than the Phins, which showed on a 16-14 scoreboard in favour of South Sydney. The Dolphins produced 10 errors and had possession of the ball less than their opponents, which were two key stats that gave reasoning for the games result. However, Round 1 is known for bizarre and weird results, so there was no need for Dolphins fans to hit the emergency button yet.   

Round two came around and the Dolphins looked to make amends for the previous week, however the result was far from their intentions. The Phins were defeated by the Knights in an ugly display. Despite a decent second half performance, Woolf’s men were already dead in the water as they found themselves trailing by 20 points after just 30 minutes of game time. Dolphins fans were feeling the pinch after succumbing to a loss for the second week straight.  

With two rounds completed, Woolf’s team looked to win their first match of the season. They played the Wests Tigers, who showed signs of high improvement in the previous week against the Eels. The Dolphins had a strong first half as they led the Tigers by six at the halftime break. It was all downhill from there for the Dolphins who didn’t score a singular point throughout the entire second half.  

The winless start means the Dolphins have missed the jump. Despite not even being a month into the season, their chances of playing finals footy are already on the line. The reasons for their poor start to the 2025 campaign is hard to find statistically, as they’re ranked in the middle of the pack in nearly every team statistic. The only two worrying statistics that slightly stand out is the fact they’re third in offloads conceded and fifth in line breaks conceded. The stats being not as unpleasant as they should be is not as crazy as you may think. Each of their losses have been close battles, besides the Newcastle game. The Phins have been competitive, but they just can’t take home the two competition ladder points.  

The Dolphins simply haven’t been able to perform well for at least 60 minutes of each game, let alone 80 minutes. That is possibly the best reason for their sluggish first three weeks of the season. If Woolf can find something from his squad that can give them an extra step towards being consistent for a full game, that will likely be their key to success. Otherwise, Woolf might find himself under the microscope from his club and Dolphins fans in just his first year as head coach.  

This article will be published after the Battle of Brisbane, so I have no knowledge of the outcome of the match or what starting 17 the Dolphins have named for their showdown against Brisbane. All I know is it will be a feisty battle and the Dolphins should be desperate to get their first win. Beating their biggest rivals would be the sweetest way of getting on the board.