Round 4 vs. Brisbane Broncos Discussion

[Big Pete]

Dolphins vs. Brisbane Broncos
Suncorp Stadium, Friday 24 March 2023
Kick Off: 7:05pm (AEST)

1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Euan Aitken 4. Brenko Lee 5. Tesi Niu 6. Isaiya Katoa 7. Sean O'Sullivan 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Kodi Nikorima 10. Kenny Bromwich 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Connelly Lemuelu 13. Tom Gilbert

14. Jarrod Wallace 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Ray Stone 17. Mason Teague

18. Poasa Faamausili 19. Kurt Donoghoe 20. JJ Collins 21. Anthony Milford 22. Robert Jennings

1. Reece Walsh 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan

14. Cory Paix 15. Keenan Palasia 16. Corey Jensen 17. Martin Taupau

18. Deine Mariner 19. Brendan Piakura 20. Kobe Hetherington 21. Jock Madden 22. Xavier Willison​

 

[Big Pete]

Apologies for the delay.

Felise Kaufusi has been found guilty for the dangerous contact charge on Jackson Hastings and will miss four matches.


In light of the Suaalii hit, Felise has been hard done by.

I presume Bromwich will move to the edge, Wallace will start with Faamausili coming onto the bench.

 

[Puff]

Being an ex-Dragon I hope the Dolphins coaching staff can get a tune out of Faamausili.

God knows I didn't see much out of him in the Red V.

Kaufusi is hard done by.

Katoa may be injured too.

My fear is we struggle for depth, if we can be lucky with injuries, we may do well this year. And we can't have suspensions.

 

[Puff]

We win tonight, we are the real deal.

Without Kaufusi, this will tell us where we are as a squad

 

[Puff]

18-12 loss.

Big effort, starting halves off the field, kaufusi not playing.

I like what I saw against a team I reckon could be top 4.

Great effort

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 18 def. Dolphins 12 (Jarrod Wallace, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow tries; Jamayne Isaako 2/2 goals)

3-1

Following the suspension of Felise Kaufusi and injury to whiz-kid Isaiya Katoa, most pundits believed the Broncos would make short work of the Dolphins. However the Dolphins went the distance with the Broncos, right up until Kotoni Staggs received a fortuitous bounce and ran the distance to decide the game for the visistors.

The Dolphins had every excuse to throw in the towel. Winger Tesi Niu suffered an alleged media ligament strain but played on in his bravest effort in first grade. Kodi Nikorima suffered a concussion after a brutal head-clash with team mate Tom Gilbert. Then with 20 to go at a critical stages of the game, halfback Sean O'Sullivan tore his pectorial trying to tackle Payne Haas.

Yet they kept turning up, denying the Broncos with some amazing last ditch defence and kept applying pressure on the Broncos attack. A lot of teams would have packed it up much sooner, but the Dolphins fought until the end. While they didn't win the contest, what they did was set a great standard for future contests.

The Dolphins middles played really well. Nicholls and Gilbert continued their strong starts to '23 and I thought Jesse Bromwich and Jarrod Wallace had their best games in Dolphins colours. It appeared the momentum swung back when Jesse came onto the field in the second half and the Broncos really struggled to get him to ground. Ray Stone's stats don't do him justice, he made a number of important tackles and really tightened the Dolphins defence when fatigue was beginning to take over.

The Dolphins sorely missed Jeremy Marshall-King. Mason Teague and Ray Stone filled in, but the service cruelled the Dolphins momentum at crucial stages. You can't help but feel if he was on the field, the Dolphins would have made their mark on the scoreboard earlier and could have applied more pressure on the Broncos.

Unfortunately the Dolphins paid a heavy price for the loss. Sean O'Sullivan faces 3-4 months on the sideline and it appears Milford/Katoa will be the halves moving forward. Milford had a mixed return, his kicking game produced results and did help the Dolphins secure the lead but defensively he was a target all evening. Teams will continue to go after him and Brenko so it'll be interesting to see how the Dolphins respond.

It would be remiss of me not to give Tabuai-Fidow a rap. The Broncos targetted him at the back and he defused every single kick, he came up with a try-saver on Arthars and launched several counter-attacks. I thought he played well and if some of the offloads had have stuck, it would have been lights out for the Broncos.

This game produced a number of highlights, but Mark Nicholls denying Cobbo with a last ditch rake of the ball is one that has to feature on every promo package moving forward - a great play from a great player.