The 2023 Dolphins season was the inaugural season for the Dolphins club in the National Rugby League (NRL) football competition in Australia. With Wayne Bennett as head coach and Jesse Bromwich as the regular team captain, the Dolphins competed in the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership but did not qualify for the finals. Nevertheless, they finished in thirteenth place, ahead of four other established teams.
Dolphins goal-kicking winger Jamayne Isaako recorded both the highest number of NRL tries and points in the 2023 competition; a feat last achieved by Canberra Raiders goal-kicking Mal Meninga in 1990.
In Round 9, the Dolphins played their first golden point game but lost 30âÂÂ31 to the Canberra Raiders at McDonalds Park, Wagga Wagga.<br><br>The NRL later conceded that match officials missed a crucial knock-on call late in Canberra's golden-point victory when the former regained possession after knocking the ball into the arm of a Dolphins player. "The NRL's head of football Graham Annesley said referee Peter Gough was obscured in his view of the knock on, but the sideline officials should have pulled the play up." Otherwise, Annesley advised that no policy changes could be considered until the current season is over.
In Round 13, an illegal try on the seventh tackle of a set was awarded to the St. George Illawarra Dragons in their 26âÂÂ12 loss to the Dolphins at Kayo Stadium; the decision would not have been overturned even if the Dolphins had lost the game. <br>
In September, the Dolphins' Inaugural Presentation Ball was held at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, and the club's annual awards were announced.
The 2023 NRL pre-season was played in February, before an eleven-day lead-up to the commencement of the regular 2023 NRL season.
For the 2023 NRL season, the number of teams increased from sixteen to seventeen with the inclusion of the Dolphins, a fourth Queensland-based club, playing most of their home games at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
In 2023, the Dolphins played seven of their twelve home games at the 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, one at Sunshine Coast Stadium and the three other at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe, which also served as a training and administration base. Optus Stadium in Perth also hosted one home game. This occurred in Round 23 against the Newcastle Knights during a double-header with the other game being between South Sydney Rabbitohs and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.