Wayne Bennett called out over brutal move that 'cost the Dolphins' a spot in NRL finals

Outgoing Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has been called out by fans over questionable selection calls that some say cost his side a place in the NRL finals. The Dolphins went down to the Newcastle Knights 14-6 on Sunday, in a final game of the regular season that determined which side would play finals footy in 2024.

Newcastle's eight-point victory saw them snatch the remaining spot in the playoffs to book an elimination final against the Cowboys in Townsville next Saturday night. And while Bennett was left blowing up over a controversial Bunker call that denied Trai Fuller a first half try, many pointed to the number of team changes from the veteran coach as the reason why finals footy slipped through their fingers in 2024.

Bennett had played Kodi Nikorima and Isaiya Katoa as his halves pairing for the majority of the season and the pair established a combination that had the Dolphins flying. Maroons superstar Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow also enjoyed an impressive season at fullback and has scored some spectacular tries from the back in 2024. But after consecutive losses against the Bulldogs and Storm, the master coach changed things up for the penultimate round against the Broncos. Katoa was dropped to the bench, Nikorima didn't feature, and Jake Averillo and Sean O'Sullivan formed a new-look halves pairing.

The Dolphins coach also decided to shift Tabuai-Fidow from fullback to centre so he could include livewire No.1 Fuller, who has been superb filling in when the 'Hammer' has been out this season. The changes worked a treat against the Broncos in round 26 as the Dolphins belted the hapless Broncos 40-6, but the same couldn't be said against a much better defensive unit in the Knights on Sunday.

Averillo and O'Sullivan struggled to get the Dolphins' attack clicking and the 'Hammer' simply did not see anywhere near as much footy as what he's used to at fullback. Tabuai-Fidow did grab his side's only try but they had to wait 70 minutes for it to come and his influence on the game was limited. Fuller looked dangerous as ever but undid a lot of his good work by trying to force plays that simply weren't on.

Wayne Bennett's selections criticised after Dolphins loss

Katoa wasn't even included on the bench in a brutal selection snub for the Knights game as Nikorima returned from a head knock to take his teammate's spot on the interchange. And fans turned the blowtorch onto Bennett after the Newcastle defeat, describing his selection gambles as a failure and noting how less dangerous the 'Hammer' is at centre, compared to fullback.

Wayne Bennett fumes over Dolphins obstruction call

Bennett was more concerned about the first half obstruction call that went against Fuller and called for the Bunker review system to be scrapped in the wake of the defeat. Fuller appeared the open the scoring at McDonald Jones Stadium after darting over the tryline midway through the first half.

But the Bunker ruled Dolphins second-rower Connelly Lemuelu impacted the outside shoulder of Knights forward Brodie Jones and prevented him from reaching Fuller. Lemuelu had also contacted Jack Cogger with his run but impacted only the Knights' five-eighth's inside shoulder, but Bennett insisted the Knights defenders initiated the contact and the try should have stood.

"If that's where we're going we're in a fair bit of trouble because that's a try every week," the outgoing Dolphins coach said. "The three defender (Cogger) committed our player who was running the inside shoulder, which is what he's supposed to do, and the four defender (Jones) ran into him and they said he (Lemuelu) obstructed him.

"If that's the case there will be no more of those tries scored. The four defender will run straight into the guy running through because he knows he's going to get a penalty ... it's just crazy. I feel sad for the teams going forward in the next four weeks because someone else is going to pay the price for it."

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League Immortal Andrew Johns - despite making no bones about his allegiance to Newcastle - also said he thought it was a poor call from the Bunker. "That is so wrong," Johns said on Nine's coverage. "You know who I'm going for, (Newcastle) means everything to me, but that is wrong. "Jack Cogger is the one who instigates contact."

Phil Gould agreed, adding: "That is just wrong. That is just a total misunderstanding of what obstruction should look like. That is such a bad decision. If you run at one man's inside shoulder, you are running at the outside shoulder of the next man in. They both go to that man in the tackle. The referee in the Bunker has got no idea."