Wayne Bennett is set to sign a big contract with the Dolphins but a rugby league great believes the NRL’s newest team needs to be cautious.
Penrith legend Greg Alexander has urged the Dolphins not to “go over the top” in their contract offer for incoming coach Wayne Bennett.
Last week the NRL confirmed it would be expanding to 17 teams, announcing the Queensland-based Dolphins as the next franchise to join the competition.
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The new team will join the NRL in 2023 and Bennett is all but certain to take the reigns as coach.
The seven-time premiership winner has reportedly agreed to a multi-year deal with the Dolphins and met with powerbrokers at the club’s headquarters last week in a bid to formalise his contract.
Bennett reportedly said he is “99 per cent sure” a deal will be agreed to and signed this week as reports leak he’s going to have a four-year deal including next season, which is believed to be for more than $2 million.
If that deal is agreed to, it means Bennett will be 75 years old by the time the contract expires at the end of the 2025 season.
The veteran mentor will begin working with the team from November 1 as they begin to build their facilities, staff, development system and first grade squad.
However, Alexander has warned the Dolphins not to go overboard with the length of Bennett’s deal, arguing a three-year deal is more than enough to begin with.
“Three (years) is long enough,” the former Panthers captain told SEN on Tuesday.
“Three is long, if Wayne’s going well half way through the second (year), they make the finals, everything’s good and the club’s happy with him, well then you extend.
“There’s no need to go over the top. Three is plenty.”
Alexander also weighed into the debate over the Dolphins decision to drop the “Redcliffe” from its name and not be associated with a geographical region of Brisbane or Southeast Queensland.
He said he understands including Redcliffe in the name could risk alienating a wider supporter base but believes the team needs to “have something in front of their name”.
“I’m not the marketing genius,” he said.
“And I’m sure they’ve gone through all their research.
“You know, ‘Do we become too insular by making it the Redcliffe Dolphins or do we open it up to a wider region?’.
“And that wider region is probably a better indication of who the Dolphins actually are.
“Their area will be into the Sunshine Coast and Southeast Queensland. I know that would be treading on the toes of the Broncos and the Gold Coast Titans.
“But I think they have to have something in front of their name but what it is I’m not sure.
“They might just think that Redcliffe is too insular and it pigeonholes the people that want to support the Redcliffe Dolphins.
“It’s not an easy one and it’s a marketing thing. But do they lose their identity? They are the Redcliffe Dolphins.
“They put the bid in as the Redcliffe Dolphins. They then win the bid and say, ‘Sorry Redcliffe’s not good enough’.”
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