Wrong Code, But Mate — That Dolphins Run Is Something Else

Look, I’ll be upfront with you — this is an AFL site, I’m an AFL bloke, and the round ball I care about is the Sherrin. But sometimes something happens in the wider sporting world that’s just too good to ignore, and the Dolphins rattling off six wins on the trot — including a 48-10 flogging of the Sydney Roosters at Lang Park — is absolutely one of those moments.

So bear with me. I promise I’ll bring it back to footy. I always do.

Six Straight. Let That Sink In.

The Dolphins are the NRL’s newest club. Brand new. Still got that fresh-car smell. And they are absolutely belting teams right now, with six consecutive wins putting them firmly in the frame for a maiden finals appearance.

Forty-eight points to ten against the Roosters. At home, sure, but the Roosters aren’t exactly a side you’re supposed to monsoon like that. That’s a hiding by any measure, in any code.

And yet here we are, talking about a club that didn’t even exist a couple of years ago potentially playing finals footy. In their second season. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

What Does This Have to Do With AFL? Everything, Mate.

You might be wondering why Daz McAllister, proud Collingwood tragic, is banging on about a rugby league club from Redcliffe. Fair enough. But stay with me.

In the AFL, we talk constantly about “list building”, “the journey”, “trusting the process”. We’ve been told for years that new or rebuilding clubs need time. Patience. Cycles. Five years minimum, they reckon. Sometimes ten.

\p>The Dolphins are blowing that narrative to pieces. And whether you barrack for Collingwood — Carn the Pies — or you’re some misguided Carlton supporter, you have to sit up and pay attention when a brand-new outfit starts tearing apart competition heavyweights in year two.

The New Club Phenomenon — And What AFL Can Learn

Cast your mind back to the Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants coming into the AFL competition. Both were given concessions, priority picks, extra list spots. Both were, to put it diplomatically, not exactly setting the competition alight in their early years.

GWS have come a long way, sure. They’ve been to a grand final. But it took a long, long time and a mountain of resources. Gold Coast are still searching for teh consistency that turns a promising side into a genuine contender.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, were built a different way. They inherited a Queensland Cup system, a passionate local fanbase, and they went about recruiting smartly rather than just throwing money at the biggest names. There’s a lesson in that for AFL list managers everywhere.

Sometimes culture and smart recruitment beats chequebook footy. Just ask a certain black-and-white club that’s been doing it pretty well lately.

The Roosters Didn’t Know What Hit Them

Look, 48-10 is not a scoreline. That’s a statement. That’s a team saying to the competition — we’re here, we’re serious, and we are not going away.

The Roosters, for those who don’t follow league closely, are one of the traditional powerhouses of the NRL. Multiple premierships, big-name players, serious resources. And the Dolphins absolutely steamrolled them.

It reminds me — and here’s where the footy parallels keep stacking up — of when Collingwood belts one of the so-called big clubs on a Friday night and everyone acts surprised. Funny how that works. The doubters are always shocked when the group that’s been quietly building finally lets rip.

The Dolphins have been building. They have definately been doing something right behind closed doors, because six straight wins doesn’t happen by accident.

Redcliffe’s Finest Hour (So Far)

There’s something deeply satisfying about a team from a place that wasn’t supposed to have a top-level club showing the establishment exactly what’s what. Redcliffe Peninsula, north of Brisbane — not traditionally the home of national sporting powerhouses. And yet here they are.

As someone who grew up loving Collingwood — a club that’s spent decades being either despised or underestimated by the southern football establishment — I’ve got a soft spot for the underdog proving people wrong. The Dolphins aren’t quite underdogs anymore, mind you. Six wins in a row tends to sort that out.

But the spirit of it? The idea that you don’t need to be the oldest, richest, most established club to go deep in a finals race? That resonates with me in a big way.

Can They Go All the Way?

Now I’m not going to pretend I know enough about the NRL finals landscape to tip the Dolphins as premiership favourites. That would be embarrassing even by my standards.

But what I do know is that teams that go on six-game winning streaks in the back half of a season tend to carry serious momentum into September — or whenever the NRL plays their finals, I should look that up — and momentum in footy, any kind of footy, is a fearsome thing.

In the AFL, we know what it looks like when a team gets hot at the right time. Collingwood in 2010. Hawthorn’s dynasty years. Richmond’s back-to-back era. Teams that find form when it counts become very, very hard to stop.

The Dolphins look like a team that’s found form. Six on the trot against decent opposition doesn’t lie.

A Tip of the Beanie to Wherever This Goes

I’ll wrap this up because, honestly, I’ve spent more time on rugby league in this column than I’ve spent in my entire adult life, and I should of probably warned you at the start that this was going to be a left-field one.

But footy — real footy, the AFL kind — is enriched by keeping an eye on what other codes are doing. And what the Dolphins are doing right now is something worth watching.

A new club. A passionate fanbase. Smart list management. A winning culture built faster than the so-called experts said was possible. And six straight wins to show for it.

If my beloved Pies were on a six-game winning streak heading into finals, I’d be absolutely insufferable to be around. Ask anyone who knows me — I’m barely tolerable after a single win.

So to the Dolphins and their supporters: good on you, genuinely. Keep it going. Show the competition what a newer club with something to prove can do.

And maybe, just maybe, a couple of AFL list managers should be watching closely too.

Carn the Pies.