Standing in the shadow cast by the statue of Rugby League Immortal Arthur Beetson, Kenny Bromwich said he was excited to take part in a special match that would see a dream of the pioneering player realised.
The Dolphins take on the Sydney Roosters in their inaugural match at Suncorp Stadium in Round 1 of the 2023 season, with Beetson having played for both clubs during his storied career, writing in his book that his dream was to one day see the Dolphins play the Roosters in the NRL.
“There has been a little bit of talk (about Round 1 already), especially coming into this new club and what we're play for there, Arthur Beetson; it'll be a memorial game for him,” Bromwich told assembled media at the club’s new one-game membership announcement.
“It was his dream for the Dolphins to play the Roosters, so it's something that we're really working hard towards and something that we'll try to play in the right spirit and that’s play it hard and play to win.
Match: Dolphins v Roosters
Round 1 -
home Team
Dolphins
3rd Position
away Team
Roosters
15th Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
“There is a lot of history at the club and we're always trying to educate ourselves on what's happened at the club before we've got here.
“There have been custodians of the jersey before us and when we're in the gym, you can see some of the flags hanging up with some of the names on there, so we’re always going to pay our respects to the players who dug the well before us so that we could drink from it.”
Joining his older brother Jesse at the Dolphins after spending the past 10 years with Melbourne Storm, the Kiwi representative said he was adjusting well to life on the peninsular, and admitted there were a few similarities he had found at the club; namely the styles of coaches Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett.
“I do think they're really similar in a lot of ways, they both care a lot about you as a person before the player and they both care about your families, which is something I really admire,” Bromwich said.
“And I think you all think Wayne's a bit of a larrikin, but he does get quite cranky at training as well, so he’s not too far off Craig; Craig sprays, but Wayne does get a bit cranky every now and then too.”
In saying that however, Bromwich said it didn’t take long for Bennett to convince him to join his brother and be part of paving the way forward with the new club.
“It only took one conversation really with Wayne to make me feel like this was the right decision,” Bromwich said.
“The vision and plan that he has for the place and what they've got going on was something that I really wanted to come into and help build.”
Bromwich was also hoping to this year build on his enviable NRL record at Suncorp Stadium which has seen him win 18 of the 22 matches he has played there, with the Dolphins set to play eight games at the venue this year, including a highly anticipated match against the Broncos in Round 4.
“I've really enjoyed playing at Suncorp, it's the best rugby league ground in the world,” Bromwich said.
“Coming here and playing with a packed stadium, it's something. It's always easy to get up and play at Suncorp, so to be able to play our home game against the Broncos, that's very exciting and it's something that we will be looking to keep going and we will try to perform here every time we can.”
Statistics: League Information Services
