Dolphins now officially spoon favourites

[257Matt]

who's watching this trial game

 

[257Matt]

I've had to change my tune after watching this trial the depth is horrendous I can now see why TAB have Dolphins as spoon favourites

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

What happened? And remember it’s just a trial

 

[257Matt]

What happened? And remember it’s just a trial

Dolphins lost with 8 of the Top 36 playing plus the Capras 3 best players and a lot of train & trial players who train full time with the NRL squad currently they didn't look fit. I now have grave concerns after trying to be optimistic.

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

You think the Dolphins are bad. I’m watching Penrith play like muppets. And they are favourites to win it again

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

Dolphins lost with 8 of the Top 36 playing plus the Capras 3 best players and a lot of train & trial players who train full time with the NRL squad currently they didn't look fit. I now have grave concerns after trying to be optimistic.

Do you have the team on hand?

 

[Equaliser]

who's watching this trial game

Forgot about it.

Dolphins lost with 8 of the Top 36 playing plus the Capras 3 best players and a lot of train & trial players who train full time with the NRL squad currently they didn't look fit. I now have grave concerns after trying to be optimistic.

What is the "top 36"? There is only a top 30. First trial against the Capras is almost meaningless. Real trials are something to think about. First round is a cause for optimism or concern.

 

[Blockade]

Forgot about it.

What is the "top 36"? There is only a top 30. First trial against the Capras is almost meaningless. Real trials are something to think about. First round is a cause for optimism or concern.

Top 36 includes the train and trial players. I didn't watch the game but I rarely get concerned about the scoreline in an intra squad game. Next week will tell us a little more.

 

[Equaliser]

Top 36 includes the train and trial players. I didn't watch the game but I rarely get concerned about the scoreline in an intra squad game. Next week will tell us a little more.

Of course. Top 30 + development contracts. In a perfect world, would've beaten the Capras but whatever. Real trials will give us a much better idea about what is going on.

 

[257Matt]

Forgot about it.

What is the "top 36"? There is only a top 30. First trial against the Capras is almost meaningless. Real trials are something to think about. First round is a cause for optimism or concern.

Top 36 is your Top 30 and 6 Development (Supplementary) players who are eligible for selection in Round 1.

Top 30 players must be on a min 130k per year.

Development players can be on a min 80k but they receive 3k per NRL game they play. Donoghue was on a development deal in 2024 he received an extra 30k on top of his NRL deal.

8 players played last night that are eligible for Round 1 selection add to that 3 players are out for round 1 of the 34 graded NRL players (2 spots yet to be filled) the reality of the Dolphins squad is only 23 players - that's very thin and no room for injuries or suspensions or form lapses.

There are 8 players who are on train & trial deals (7 played last night) they're hoping to get one of the final two contracts and there were another 6 players playing who are on gloried train & trial deals under academy & transition contracts they all played all those players were from Mal Meninga Cup last year.

If you're a train & trial player once you play 3 NRL games in that season you get upgraded to development deal plus you get the $3k bonuses. Fuller played 11 games last year and once he got to 3 games he got activated

Players on train & trial deals are weekly payments of $1200 and clubs varying the length of the deals and whether it includes the mandatory two week Christmas break. They all train full time with the NRL squad until their deals expire. Fuller last year was on a 12 month deal for train & trial until his auto promotion. But by the time of his promotion the balance from $62,400 to $80k isn't that much because the dev deal is only 6 months increase of 10k.