Dolphins flyer Jamayne Isaako has opened up on what makes master coach Wayne Bennett so special ahead of his 900th match milestone in Magic Round.
The 73-year-old has coached 899 games across six clubs since 1987 in the Raiders, Broncos, Dragons, Knights, Rabbitohs and now the Dolphins in their inaugural season.
Isaako was in awe of Bennett’s unparalleled 37-year career in coaching ahead of the Dolphins’ clash with the Sharks on Saturday night.
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“I didn’t know it was his 900th game until we came in for our prep at the start of this week,” Isaako told foxsports.com.au.
“Obviously that is a huge achievement for himself and for the game to have someone coach 900 games is an incredible milestone.
“I’m not too sure if there will be anyone else who will overtake that record.
“I’m sure for Wayne the team and the boys will be hoping to get a win for him this weekend. It is such a great achievement.”
Bennett gave Isaako his NRL and Broncos debut in 2017 and was the main reason he never wanted to leave Red Hill, before fate saw them reunite at the Dolphins.
The 26-year-old revealed what makes Bennett so special to play for.
“There is just something about him where you know that you never want to let him down,” Isaako said.
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“For myself coming into this season I knew it was a do-or-die situation having left the Broncos and falling out of form at the Titans.
“Coming to Wayne and the Dolphins has taken my game to the next level.
“2018 had a huge effect on that decision. Coming into the league and having tasted my first first grade football under Wayne.
“He was the main reason why I wanted to stay at the Broncos and then after 2018 the club ended up letting him go and a lot of things happened outside of football that disrupted my form and the way I was playing.
“But a lot of that is behind me now and I’m just glad to be back under him. You don’t want to let Wayne down.”
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Bennett was a key reason in Isaako joining the Dolphins and it was the master coach that instilled a belief in his players that they could make waves from their very first game in the NRL, which turned out being an upset victory over the Roosters.
“Wayne has been around for a very long time and it is not the first club he has been a part of where everything has started from scratch,” Isaako said.
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“Coming into pre-season we expected it was going to be tough. He put together a really tough pre-season that we all had to buy into and get through and we managed to do that.
“It is a credit to him and the coaching staff that he has got around him. He has got us ready for this season and obviously we are only nine games into the season and we still have a lot of footy ahead of us.
“Hopefully we can keep building on what we have already achieved at the moment.”
The Dolphins currently sit ninth on the ladder heading into their clash with the Sharks and could have been in the eight were it not for a tough missed call in their golden point loss to the Raiders in Round 9.
Isaako believes the Dolphins have even more surprises in store as their season progresses and the team grows closer on and off the field.
“The season for us personally as a club has been going great,” Isaako said.
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“We are five from nine at the moment and to have come into the season and done the things that we have already done, I don’t think anyone would have thought we would have won our first game, but we managed to do that.
“We have been taking each week as it comes, but our form on the back of that has been great to start the season.
“We are playing some good footy and can hopefully continue building on that as the season unfolds.”
The Dolphins have already caused their fair share of surprises including the equal biggest ever comeback against the Titans to win from 26-0 down in Round 8.
Bennett refused to reveal what he said at half-time of the comeback win for the ages, but Isaako said it was not the spray the players were expecting from their coach after their horror first half performance.
“It was a bit frantic obviously coming in at half-time we were down a fair bit,” Isaako said.
“We were expecting a rocket from Wayne actually. But he came in pretty calm and let everyone talk between our groups. Our left edge and our right edge.
“Once everyone had spoken he just calmed everyone down a little and told us what we needed to get right the second half to not come back necessarily, but get ourselves back into the picture and start playing the football we knew we were capable of doing.
“Coming out after half-time we scored two early tries and it was a bit of a roll on effect from there.
“He honestly didn’t say too much. He just left it to the group and said what he needed to say.
“We came out that second half and came back, which was just amazing.”
The Dolphins are taking a simple approach to their first season, but make no mistake their aspirations as a club are to lift the NRL trophy.
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Isaako would love to be a part of the first Dolphins team and just the third Queensland team ever after the Broncos and Cowboys to win a title.
“It would be huge,” Isaako said.
“It is every player’s expectation coming into the league to win a premiership and if we ever get to that point it would be amazing.
“I know as players and as a team we are just taking it each week as it comes, but I’m sure we would be excited once finals football rolls around and we are in there competing with some of the best teams.”
