Last season’s South Coast Rugby Union runners-up received a timely boost before kick-off as eight new players signed up to take the Dolphin’s playing roster to 21 names.

And that boost helped Ron Rae’s side get its season off to the perfect start at Captain Oldrey Park in what was an unexpected home game after the fixture was originally meant to be played in Narooma.

Young Broulee fullback Tom Pritchard opened the home side’s account inside 10 minutes when he crossed near the sideline in the wet conditions.

Pat McMahon, who caused the Whales headaches all afternoon, slotted the conversion from out wide to give the Dolphins an early 7-nil lead.

However, the visitors hit back almost instantaneously after the Broulee defence fell asleep following a scrum.

The Dolphins dropped the slippery ball 10 metres out from their own line and once the ball emerged from the ensuing scrum, Narooma scrumhalf Tye Thomas scooped up possession and darted over to score untouched.

Visiting fullback Brendan Collins added the extras from right in front to level the scores after 15 minutes.

McMahon put the Dolphins back in front shortly afterwards with a well-struck penalty goal and the home side thought it had built on that lead two minutes later only to see Brad Dunkley’s diving effort ruled out due to a knock-on.

However, Rae’s men didn’t have to wait long to post more points and they were duly rewarded with a try on the half-hour mark after a thrilling exhibition of passes.

McMahon made the initial break and when he released the ball after being brought down, the Dolphins involved no less than 10 players in the next phase before Terry Lee eventually touched down for five points.

McMahon’s third kick at goal was unsuccessful, though, and so the Dolphins took their 15-7 advantage into the half-time interval.

However, the second half was all one-way traffic as the Dolphins ran in five more tries to secure a bonus point and join rivals the Batemans Bay Boars at the top of the ladder.

Despite the one-sided result, Broulee coach Rae insisted the game was a much tighter affair than the scoreboard suggested.

“The score wasn’t really a (true) indication because Narooma took it to us all the time,” he said.

“They slowed down the ball in the maul area, which slowed down our momentum when we wanted to get going.

“Other than that, we took most of our opportunities and I was very pleased with the result.”