DANE ELDRIDGE: The Dolphins are shaping as genuine NRL premiership contenders with recent period of dominance

As we know, NRL competition rules state that a club cannot legitimately challenge for the premiership until they’ve paid the piper.

And that’s why despite a compelling five game winning streak, most of us can’t entertain the possibility of the Dolphins winning this year’s grand final.

Forget the imposing hurdle of Penrith, the main reason the NRL’s youngest expansion club isn’t allowed to win a premiership right now is because it wouldn’t feel right as its barely five minutes old and hasn’t eaten enough shit sandwiches.

But as the wins keep racking up and the point scoring sprees get more vicious, it’s getting more difficult to cling to this cast iron logic.

And their hard work is being rewarded with five members named in the Maroons Game II State of Origin squad today.

Yes, the Dolphins haven’t paid a penance like the Dragons’ final 40 minutes in the 1999 grand final or Cronulla’s 48 years staring at the porch light.

And yes, the rest of us are still reeling from the Melbourne Storm’s jarring 1999 triumph and the grim scenes of the Provan-Summons trophy arriving at Tullamarine airport to a waiting throng of three baggage handlers and a coffee cart.

In short, could the Dolphins emulate the ‘99 Storm and go all the way before anyone is ready, even themselves?

And of course, it would feel incongruous to see a fresh colour scheme on the trophy dais in September, but how can we deny a side dripping with so much strike?

With a backline armed with enough to sink a frigate and a forward pack that is sneakily elite, there’s no reason the Dolphins can’t be the game’s latest premature inauguration.

Currently on a winning streak preceded by two tight losses to Penrith and the Warriors, the side is ticking so many boxes they are virtually force-feeding us belief.

Everyone assumed their clash with the Cowboys on Saturday night would be like a frenetic air duel between two squadrons of elite fighter jets - and we were partially right.

But there was only one side firing the shots at Queensland Country Bank Stadium and it was Kristian Woolf’s men, with their 40-14 blowout win sending more shivers through the competition’s contenders than a midnight phone call from the integrity unit.

And while they’ll need to lift another gear to compete with the Panthers and the Warriors at crunch time, its a fact they’re now so dangerous that if your team was set to cross paths with them in finals you’d consider crossing the road.

But regardless of graduating from harmless fun to top four hopes, the Dolphins are already a stunning success merely for how smoothly the club has established itself as part of the furniture.

The Queensland expansion has taken only four short years to forge an identity in the game’s premier competition, a far cry from the Gold Coast Titans who’ve taken 20 seasons and even then, it’s been only to grow from an abattoir to a morgue.

And while not every new licence can be like Redcliffe and enter the league with history, money, Wayne Bennett and a delightful leagues club stationed on the dead ball line, it’s a lesson to fellow fledglers like the Titans, PNG Chiefs and Perth Bears in how to launch a footy side.

Yes it helps being financially self-sufficient and to not operate out of a region famous for being a graveyard, but the Dolphins can pat themselves on the back for helping themselves immeasurably via astute recruiting and eyes-up administration.

Plucking Isaiya Katoa from Penrith’s nursery was a masterstroke, and the clearly defined terms of the Bennett-Woolf handover has proven seamless and airtight.

But it’s been the club’s ability to carve out a positive from their failure to land a big fish in their debut year - underspending on the salary cap and front loading contracts to clear room for a war chest - that has resulted in reeling in rep stars like Herbie Farnworth, Tom Flegler, Daniel Saifiti and Selwyn Cobbo, a series of names that a beleaguered suitor like Perth could only dream of.

In short, could the Dolphins emulate the ‘99 Storm and go all the way before anyone is ready, even themselves?

Probably not, but also, why not?

But even if their run fizzles, at least they’ve demonstrated how a good rugby league startup works by being promptly successful, popular, funded, and now, feared.