Wayne Bennett was at his brilliant best as he reflected on the Dolphins’ record 28-26 comeback victory over the Titans after he was asked what he said at half-time to spark the turnaround.
The Dolphins came back from 26-0 down equalling the Cowboys’ 1998 comeback over the Panthers as the biggest in the NRL era.
“I’ve been at the other end of those as well, so I’ve got a few records out there and they are not all good,” Bennett said.
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Bennett wouldn’t be drawn on what he said to his players at half-time after they stormed home to win the second half 22-0.
“Not much, I can’t remember now,” Bennett said.
“Mate, if I thought it was important to tell you what I said at half-time I would tell you, but I don’t think it is important, so it is not something I am going to talk about.”
Bennett admitted he never gave up hope of a comeback victory, but not unless his side drastically altered what they were doing in the first half.
“Anything is possible,” Bennett said.
“I never doubted that. What I doubted was our ability to play to our potential.
“We weren’t doing it in the first half and we did it in the second half.
“After that we might have failed by two points. It could have been 26-24, but we got to 28-26.
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“You know it is going to be close, but you never give up on that. That has been pretty much my mindset.”
Bennett paid tribute to his side’s fighting spirit after the stunning form reversal in the second half.
“They showed some wonderful qualities,” Bennett said.
“They had to and they put themselves in that place, so I was obviously pleased with that.
“Just the way they went out there and regrouped themselves in the second half and played the whole 40 minutes of the second half.
“It was excellent. It was a complete contrast to the first half.
“We fixed our second halves up today, but now we have to fix the first half up.”
Bennett was asked to sum up Dolphins’ winger Robert Jennings’ all-time brain snap where he fell over before the line and didn’t score despite no Titans players being near him.
“No, I don’t know, Jesse was out there, what did you think?” Bennett said.
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“I thought he was worried about the double movement, but he hadn’t got to the try line yet.”
Dolphins skipper Jesse Bromwich was in shock at the play, but commended Jennings for bouncing back in a two try performance that helped his side mount their comeback victory.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bromwich said.
“That was a brain explosion.
“I thought he was better this week other than that little mistake.
“He put himself in the game a bit more coming out of trouble.
“He has got a really strong carry and the confidence to go and attack after making a mistake like that was really good.”
Bromwich revealed he started to feel his side could get back in the game 10 minutes before half-time.
“The 10 minutes before half-time was where we started to get a bit of momentum back,” Bromwich said.
“I think the 10 to 15 minute stint after half-time was where we started to find some belief and that we were going to be able to score enough points to take the game.
“The boys that started the second half did a really good job.”
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Bromwich believes the win was evidence of the Dolphins’ players commitment to each other from the first day of pre-season.
“I think the second half was really evident the style that we play,” Bromwich said.
“I think it is off the back of our training and our pre-season and just not wanting to let each other down.
“That’s the nucleus of the team that is really working for us and hopefully that doesn’t go away.
“We were at a bit of a crossroads at half-time. You can either show some ticker or you can just go away and put yourself in a corner.
“The way we came out and fought our way back into the game is what we can learn a lot from.”
Bromwich and Bennett refused to give former Titans player Jarrod Wallace too much praise despite his starring display in the win.
“He had a really good day today,” Bromwich said.
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“I don’t want to boost him up too much. He is getting photos and interviews and everything.”
“His problem is we can’t play the Gold Coast every week,” Bennett interjected.
Bennett also moved to put the breaks on the hype surrounding halfback Isaiya Katoa, despite another strong performance in the comeback win.
“Yeah he is, but he has got a long way to go,” Bennett said of Katoa.
“He is not Allan Langer yet.
“Let’s watch and wait and see.”
The Dolphins next face Jack Wighton and the Raiders, but Bennett doesn’t know if he can expect a decision on the Canberra five-eighth’s future after their meeting during the week and subsequent $4 million contract offer.
“I don’t know, I have no idea,” Bennett said.
“We didn’t talk about timelines for his decision or anything like that.”
