Chris Close expects another Wayne Bennett dressing room dance, or worse, if the Dolphins coach can pull off his latest NRL miracle in the Battle For Brisbane.
That's how sweet a win over the Broncos would be on Friday for the man who led them to six titles over 25 years, before a bitter fall-out led to a premature Red Hill departure in 2018.
The famously reserved Bennett was caught on camera doing a jig in the sheds when his South Sydney side beat the Broncos the following year.
He's since taken charge of the NRL's newest club, who have won their first three games to set up a mouth-watering Brisbane derby with their undefeated cross-town rivals.
Close, who was a former Dolphins player before being Queensland team manager under Bennett, said to expect another dressing room performance if he's able to pull the Broncos' pants down again.
"He's waiting with bated breath; he might even drop his own pants, might get carried away," Close told AAP.
"He's playing down the excitement, but I can tell you deep inside his heart will be beating very, very fast.
"There will be a lot of butterflies in his stomach coming into the game, he just won't let anyone see it, that's all."
Close joined the pile-on after Dolphins enforcer Felise Kaufusi's ban for dangerous contact was upheld, ruling him out of the sold-out clash and three games after that.
"I look back in the early 80s and I got four weeks for a head high that nearly took the bloke's head off and put it in the grandstand," Close told AAP.
"It's so disappointing for Felise and it's out of line with the punishment that's due."
But he said Bennett, who has executed countless rugby league ambushes, wouldn't leverage that on Friday.
"Looking in from the outside that would seem obvious but he's a complex, calculating individual," Close said.
"He knows you can only do that to a certain extent.
"If it becomes about payback, retribution, they don't concentrate on the reason for being there.
"He's far too smart to let that happen, he'll coach that team without Felise to be the best it can be."
Brisbane coach Kevin Walters, who Bennett coached to Broncos premierships and then hired as an assistant, would see through it too.
"We don't get any easy games; from the moment we hit the ground in 1988 everyone wanted to beat the Broncos and that hasn't stopped," he said.
"I'm thinking the Dolphins are probably in that category."
Walters was cagey when addressing the media before a "Battle for Brisbane" function on Wednesday, with Bennett a notable absentee due to a pre-existing arrangement.
"It's okay ... it's the Brisbane Broncos though, isn't it?," he replied when asked his thoughts on the derby's motto and the fact the Dolphins are based in Redcliffe, not Brisbane.
"Every game's a battle, this one's in Brisbane."
Close has delighted in his old club's graduation to the national arena though.
"Brisbane deserved this ... ridiculed by NSW for many, many years, treated like second-rate citizens," he mused.
"They have their day in the sunshine now and I believe Brisbane is the capital of rugby league in the world. How good is that?"
Australian Associated Press
