Dolphins' touching gesture to injured star forward Gilbert

The Dolphins have made a touching gesture to star forward Tom Gilbert as he fights his way through another season-ending injury after missing most of the expansion team’s first season in the NRL.

Gilbert, who only played 11 games for the Dolphins last season after injuring his shoulder while playing for Queensland, ruptured his ACL in a pre-season game against the Warriors this year to leave a gaping hole in the team’s forward pack.

The former Cowboy's recovery has also been hindered with Gilbert still not having undergone surgery to repair his knee due to a blood clot scare, which later moved into his lung.

As Wayne Bennett’s side establish themselves as a chance to play finals this season, sitting fourth on the ladder, assistant coach Nathan Fien revealed just how much Gilbert meant to the Dolphins.

“Tommy’s been phenomenal for the group, I guess a sign of what he means to our club, the senior players got together and spoke to Wayne about getting Tom’s initials on his jersey,” he said on SENQ Breakfast.

“That’s just a testament to what type of player he is and how he’s viewed here at the Dolphins, the boys really want to play for him and understand what he’s going through is quite tough at the moment.

“He’s handling it and taking everything in his stride … I heard he’s had some positive news and the operation should be in the next week or two , which is really positive for him and can give Tommy just that focus to start moving with his rehab and start focusing on next year.

“He’s just a great lad to have around the place. He’s definitely got that Dolphins spirit in him and what we want our future Dolphins to look like is Tommy Gilbert.”

Fien also gave an update on the return of former Broncos star and prize recruit Tom Flegler, who is still sidelined with a shoulder injury.

“It’s just a week by week thing with Flegs (Flegler) at the moment, there’s nothing mechanically wrong with the shoulder, it’s all to do with the nerve damage he’s sustained in there and everyone responds to the treatment differently,” he said.

“For Flegs he’s definitely improving, we’d love to have him out there, he’s such an integral part of our middle rotation and what he does up front for us moving forward and through the back end of the year, we’re looking forward to having him back out there.

“At the moment he’s just concentrating on his rehab and for us it’s the old business as usual, and the guys who have stepped up have done a really great job for us and we’ll look to keep that going against Manly.”

The Dolphins host the Manly Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.