Kristian Woolf's men will play Wests Tigers in Campbelltown on Saturday afternoon minus Queensland's Thomas Flegler, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Selwyn Cobbo, who are all starters in Wednesday night's State of Origin.
Bench Maroons Max Plath and Kulikefi Finefeuiaki have been listed in an extended squad while NSW bench outside back Jack Bostock is named to start at centre.
Last year the razzle dazzle Dolphins were the best attacking NRL team with 721 points scored, but they conceded 596 to put them in 11th defensively at 24.8 points each game.
This season they are the third-best attacking side but their defence has improved immensely and they are fourth-best in the NRL with 263 let in at an average of just 20.2 per match.
In the past six weeks the Dolphins have upped the ante, conceding an average of 13 per game while scoring at 37 per match.
They are the kind of numbers boasted by premiership-winning teams. For instance, Penrith averaged 16.4 points against in their last premiership win in 2024.
Dolphins lock Morgan Knowles has played a major role in adding defensive clout since arriving from St Helens this year and expressed his view on the key change.
"Looking from afar in previous years the talent has always been here and the boys have been able to turn it on but probably haven't had that consistency," the England international said.
"What we have brought in this year is the ruthless defence and hard work that (consistency) is built on.
"You can look at the results and see how well we are attacking ... but that is coming off the back of the mentality shift in defence."
Proving Knowles's point, over the past six weeks the Dolphins have let in just 30 points in the second halves of matches. They grow better as a match wears on.
Knowles played under Woolf at St Helens and said he had "the same sort of philosophies about how he wants his teams to play".
Before their club record six-game winning streak, the Dolphins lost by one point against the NRL ladder-leading Panthers and by two points to the second-placed Warriors.
"It's about having a tough team, earning the right first and having all the effort areas. That has been the platform," Knowles said.
"We have that much attacking strike. Sprinkle that on top and build a bit of fatigue into an opposition team and you are a tough team to play against.
""What is more pleasing is the consistency we have had the last eight weeks. We turned a corner but we can't get too carried away with ourselves. We need to continue on."
14°C