Queensland coach Billy Slater has boldly declared Kristian Woolf’s Dolphins can win the NRL comp in 2025—but another rugby league legend isn’t so sure.
“The way they’ve been playing, they can win the competition,” Slater said on the Sunday Footy Show on Channel Nine, acknowledging the club’s recent run of form despite managing a long injury list.
“No Flegler, no Gilbert, no Plath, no Kaufusi, no Saifiti, no Bostock, no Kenny Bromwich,” he continued.
“That’s a third of their salary cap and they just destroyed the Rabbitohs… it’s unbelievable.”
MORE: Rising Dolphins star called into NSW Blues camp
But NSW great and rugby league Immortal, Andrews Johns, isn’t as bullish, suggesting both injuries and NRL history will eventually catch up with the Redcliffe-based outfit.
“Full strength, I reckon they could (win the competition), but they’re missing too many players,” Johns said.
“The Dolphins are a big chance of finishing in the eight, but they won’t finish in the top four and we’ve seen you can’t win from outside the top four.
“Can they beat the Bulldogs? Can they then beat Penrith? Can they then beat the Storm? Can they then beat Canberra?
“No, it’s too hard,” Johns said.
With eight wins from sixteen games, the Dolphins sit eighth at the end of Round 17, boasting the best attack in the NRL (29.8 points per game) and the second best for-and-against (plus 162).
Sportsbet currently lists the Dolphins as $26 to lift the Telstra Premiership trophy in 2025, well behind short-priced favourites, Melbourne Storm.