Bromwich bracing for forward battle as hope floats for first win

Dolphins veteran Kenny Bromwich is confident the tide will turn for his as yet winless side, but they face a stern challenge in their latest derby match up against an in-form Titans.

After falling short against the Broncos in their ‘Battle’ derby in Round 4, the Dolphins travel to the Gold Coast for their ‘Sunshine Showdown’ and will be without suspended captain Tom Gilbert, making an already tough fight in the forwards against the likes of Origin and international representatives Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Moeaki Fotuaika even harder.  

“He’s a big loss, he does a lot of work and brings a lot of aggression and intensity,” Bromwich said.

“Max Plath will go in there, it is nothing unusual for Plathy. He has a similar work ethic and will do a good job if he goes there.

“Plathy is a workhorse and we have Stoney [Ray Stone] and the Goat [Mark Nicholls] who go hard.”

In good news, the team are set to name Connelly Lemuelu to return from a fractured eye socket, an injury he suffered in the opening round loss to the Rabbitohs.

The Samoan international had been in good form and will be a much-needed addition to the pack in their Multicultural Round match featuring plenty of Pacific Islands talent up front for both sides, including Gold Coast's Tonga representative Dave Fifita. 

“He’s healthy and ready to go,” Bromwich said.

“It would be a good battle. Dave is a crazy ball runner so he will have his hands full if he goes up against him.”

Overall, the Dolphins have had a disrupted start to the season with relocated home games and trainings in the opening rounds, but while that has affected their preparations, the side have taken accountability for the lapses that have cost them, especially in their Round 3 loss to Wests Tigers where they gave up a lead.

Bromwich, who played in the Dolphins line-up for the first time this season after performing 18th player for the past few rounds after opting out of Round 1 to stay with family during Cyclone Alfred, said the changes that needed to be made were minimal.

“We have got a few things we need to improve on and we have been prepping pretty well in the lead up," the former Māori All Stars representative said. 

“I thought we’ve been turning up to the games and playing pretty well and always putting in good effort. Things will turn around.

“Our completions haven’t  been too great and defending off the back of those errors could be better. If we can clean up those things, it will go a long way towards getting a win.

“(We are) not (concerned) at all. When times get tough, this is when teams come together and you get through the hard work together.

“(Once) we get better with our completions and errors and we won’t have to make so many tackles, then we will have more juice in attack and it will flow off the back of there.

“If you can complete your sets and not make as many tackles, you have enough juice to do both ends of the footy.

“We are making ourselves do one side a bit more. The other side is there. We have the boys with the strike power. We just need to get them more of the ball.”