Wayne Bennett declares he'll show no hesitation to poach players from rival clubs to join the Dolphins after he was unveiled as the new franchise's inaugural coach.
Bennett has finally put pen to paper to join the Dolphins, who were approved to join the NRL in season 2023 last week.
With the November 1 cut-off date fast-approaching, meaning players off-contract at the end of 2022 will be open for offers, the Dolphins and Bennett will immediately start crafting out a list of potential marquee signings.
It was previously suggested Bennett's former club South Sydney had placed a clause in his contract prohibiting him from poaching Rabbitohs players or staff upon leaving the club.
Star playmaker and Dally M Team of the Year member Cody Walker is among a handful of Rabbitohs players set to become free agents in less than two weeks' time.
A renowned man-manager, Bennett has famously taken players from former clubs he's coached at, with Darius Boyd at the Dragons and Jai Arrow at the Rabbitohs just two high-profile examples.
Beneath a veiled swipe at former club Brisbane, Bennett suggested he won't hesitate to do the same while at the Dolphins.
“I don’t care about the clause, the clause doesn’t interest me,” he said.
“Go and have a look at the clubs I’ve coached and go and have a look at how many players I’ve taken from the club I left.
“If you look at South Sydney for example, Jaydn Su’A and Pat Mago were both cast out by the Broncos, the Broncos didn’t want them.
“Darius Boyd followed me for a decade because the Broncos didn’t want him. I have no history of taking major players from any club."
Highlighting two to three marquee players as his first task after signing on as coach, Bennett said the Dolphins will immediately get to work on building a competitive roster for 2023.
He expects the allure of playing for a new team in a new environment to boost their chances of attracting top-line talent.
“You’ve got a $9.5 million salary cap and you know you have to get some marquee players and that will be our priority, then build the other players around them,” he added.
“Obviously I want to bring the good players here but there’s more than just me that will bring them here and that’s the concept that I’ll be buying into and that I want everyone else to buy into.
“This is a wonderful club, great area and it’s not about one person.”
Cameron Munster, Christian Welch, Kalyn Ponga, Harry Grant and Reed Mahoney are a handful of names that have been linked to the club in recent months.