Dolphins veteran Kenny Bromwich has detected a noticeable lift in standards in this year’s pre-season sessions, led not only by the intent of head coach Kristian Woolf, but by the players themselves.
After missing out on finals during their first two seasons, last year losing the their ‘shootout’ for a top eight spot against the Knights in the final round, Bromwich said the whole squad had come back to pre-season with a determination to go one better next season.
“Pre-season's been really, really hard at the moment, the standards have probably picked up a bit I reckon," Bromwich said.
“Training's been a bit harder, everything's just gone up a notch … standards have gone a bit up and I think it should make a difference.
“You can't keep doing the same thing and expect a different result, so I think (we are) trying to get everybody a little bit fitter, that'll probably be the main goal of this pre-season, get everybody fitter and then go from there.”
Bromwich himself is no stranger to finals, having won premierships with the Storm alongside his brother Jesse, who retired at the end of last season as the inaugural captain of the Dolphins.
Despite playing the majority of his career with Jesse in games not only for the Dolphins and Storm but also with the Kiwis and Māori All Stars, Bromwich said while he would miss having his older brother around, it would be “business as usual” for him when it came to preparing for games.
“Yeah (I miss him) for sure, but I've done the other camps without him, so it kind of just feels like it is starting to get normal now without him," Bromwich said.
“He's been getting cheeky to me that I'll be getting punished at training, but I think I'll be getting cheeky to him when the season comes around.
“He's been enjoying retired life so far, but I think when the season comes around, he'll start getting a bit jumpy to start playing again.
“(I will be) just business as usual I reckon without him, I've been in other camps without him and played without him, so it's just another game of footy, but having him there was always good, someone to talk to get some advice from.
“He’d tip me up on a few things and it was just good having him around as we always did a lot of extras together too.”
However, with representative players including Isaiya Katoa and Kodi Nikorima rejoining the squad early to get some training in, Bromwich said their attitude showed the strong leadership present throughout the group, who have realised the need to step up given the void in experience left by Jesse's retirement.
“I think it lifts the standard of our training, I think those boys played quite a lot of footy and know what to do and know what to expect, so when they come early to training, it kind of lifts all the other boys around them and makes training sessions a bit better and it just makes everyone better," Bromwich said.
“I don't expect them to come back early, but it's really good to see them come back early and it just shows where they want to be at as a footy player and where this club wants to be as a club.
“(On leadership) I will try to step up and do a little bit more; I think as a group, a lot of us are going to have to do a little bit more.
“Some big shoes have left and I don't think just one person should fill it.
“I think a few people need to step up and take on a bit more of a role.”
In the forward pack, the club have also recruited well and the Dolphins forward remains an imposing one, with the signings of Daniel Saifiti from the Knights and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki from the Cowboys, as well as the impending returns of Tom Gilbert and Thomas Flegler.
“Stoked with the forward pack we have, plenty of competition there," Bromwich said.
"It'll be a strong forward pack fitting into this competition.”
Match: Dolphins v Rabbitohs
Round 1 -
home Team
Dolphins
away Team
Rabbitohs
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
