BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 27: Wayne Bennett poses for a photo with the revealing of the Dolphins Heritage jersey and a new sponsor in Kings Adventure during a Dolphins NRL press conference at Suncorp Stadium on October 27, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The Dolphins’ continued struggles to sign stars for their inaugural season has reportedly led the club to ask the NRL for an exemption on the November 1 deadline.
The infamous November 1 rule allows players off-contract at the end of the following season to begin to field offers from that date – a full season before they have played their last game for their current club.
The rule has already seen a number of players change clubs for 2023, including Brandon Smith, Apisai Koroisau, Josh Hodgson, Isaiah Papali’i, Luciano Leilua and a host of others.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the struggle to sign stars for 2023 – the Dolphins still don’t have a spine and have struggled to recruit marquee names to the club in any position, with Ryan Matterson the latest player to snub the club – has led them to plead with the NRL for early recruitment ahead of 2024.
The reports suggest that has been knocked back however, with the NRL deciding there would be no bending of the rules, giving clubs with off-contract stars until November 1 to retain their players.
“The recruitment has been slow,” The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio told 1170 SEN Breakfast.
“The Dolphins had approached the NRL to try and get a head start on other clubs to try and build this roster.
“They wanted to be able to sign players before November 1 when the rest of the field get a crack at off-contract players.
“That’s an indication to me that the Dolphins were always concerned about this roster build.
“That (request) was denied by the NRL.
“I think they’ll have a struggle in their first year.”
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It’s understood the Dolphins have already turned their eye towards recruiting for 2024 – with 17 players on the books for 2023 and only 13 roster spots remaining.
The list of players left is dwindling for 2023, although Wayne Bennett has previously stated the club are also looking towards England for potential recruits.
It has also been previously reported they are still holding out hopes of having players potentially seek an early release to join in 2023 as they desperately attempt to build a competitive roster.
Source:: ZeroTackle
