Jeremy Marshall-King, the star dummy half for the Dolphins, has shared that his recovery from a pre-season knee injury is taking longer than anticipated.
The seasoned player, previously with the Bulldogs, was aiming for a return around Round 6, potentially for the Dolphins' upcoming match against the Penrith Panthers in Darwin, following their bye next weekend.
His return would have been crucial for Kristian Woolf's squad after their disappointing performance against the Manly Sea Eagles last Thursday. Unfortunately, Marshall-King has indicated that he is still about a month away from rejoining the field.
"I just spoke to Jeremy Marshall-King - he reckons he is still a month away from playing," Duke reported during the latter part of the game.
This news implies that the Dolphins, currently holding a three-win, two-loss record after setbacks against Brisbane and Manly, will be missing their first-choice number nine for at least the next three games-none of which will be easy.
After the bye, the Dolphins will face the Penrith Panthers, the New Zealand Warriors in Wellington, and the Melbourne Storm in Brisbane, hoping to have Marshall-King back for their Round 10 match against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium.
Initially, Brad Schneider took the dummy half position for the Dolphins, but Max Plath resumed that role in Round 2.
However, there is a growing sentiment that Plath should shift to lock to optimize the team's performance, potentially paving the way for either Kurt Donoghoe or Brad Schneider to step into the dummy half role in the coming weeks.
Kristian Woolf has downplayed the notion of making personnel changes during his post-match press conference following the heavy loss to Manly, though with nearly two weeks before naming a new squad, adjustments could certainly occur.