2024 Pre-season

[Equaliser]

DOLPHINS 58 - 6 CQ CAPRAS​

Tesi Niu scored a first half hat-trick as the Dolphins stormed to a 58-6 win over the Central Queensland Capras on Saturday. Niu actually could have had four tries in the first half having just been held up over the line in the play before the Dolphins opened the scoring, with Valynce Te Whare instead nabbing the first four-pointer of the game.

It came after a pinpoint Kurt Donoghoe kick was misjudged by Kurtis Farr, sitting up for Te Whare to scoop and score. Niu made no mistake a few minutes later though after Donoghoe shaped to play it short to Oryn Keeley, who ran the decoy and drew in the Capras defence, opening up space out wide on the left edge.

Niu put winger Jack Bostock away and was backing up in support to finish it off, seeing the Dolphins push ahead 10-0 after seven minutes. The two Dolphins halves later combined for a highlight-reel try in the 17th minute as Lachlan Hubner ran the decoy against the angle, with Donoghoe instead playing it out the back to halfback Gerome Burns who showed off his speed to race away and score.

The Capras eventually hit back as Brandon Clarke shaped to pass from dummy-half and caught the Dolphins defence napping, going right through to score.
It was the only highlight of the half though as Niu scored his second, with strong decoy running from Keeley doing the trick again as the Dolphins centre used his footwork close to the line to beat the defence.

Niu capped off a stellar half as Burns went to the air, recovering well from a poor pass and Bostock rose above to bat it to Brent Woolf, who found the 22-year-old for his third of the game. The Dolphins picked up where they left off in the third quarter as they ran the ball on the last tackle, with Caleb Jackson straightening up to score and extend the lead to 34-6.

Soon after the Dolphins were in again, with a sharp Brent Woolf playing it short from dummy-half to a charging Cooper Jenkins as the prop crashed over next to the posts. Woolf then scored one of his own as he strolled through a gaping hole close to the line before Manase Kaho spun over to bring up the half-century for the Dolphins soon after.

The Dolphins had one final try in them as Jenkins scored his second of the game, this time on the back of a beautiful short ball from Trey Brown after the hooker took it right up to the line.

 

[Red]

Full squad + analysis for the game this weekend:

1. Trai Fuller - Good luck. Hopefully he's put on a few kgs and is ready for a bit more NRL this year.
2. Jack Bostock - As above. If not this year, surely next.
3. Tesi Niu - Interesting. If the above is ready for NRL now, what becomes of Tessi?
4. Herbie Farnworth - Probably play only about 20 min.
5. Jamayne Isaako - As above.
6. Isaiya Katoa - As above + 20min. So 40 total.
7. Sean O'Sullivan - Good luck.
8. Thomas Flegler - Another on for only 20min.
9. Jeremy Marshall-King - Yet another 20min.
10. Mark Nicholls - Veteran
11. Euan Aitken - I like him on the bench or even Kafusi and Lemuelu for a starting spot.
12. Felise Kaufusi - 40min
13. Tom Gilbert - First game in 9 months. Probably a bit more than 40min.
    
    Interchange:
14. Max Plath - Auditioning for 5/8 or hooker?
15. Valynce Te Whare - Looking forward to seeing what a slimmer Val can do.
16. Jake Averillo - I thought he'd be starting.
17. Kurt Donoghoe - Give him 40min at 5/8 please Wayne.
18. Gerome Burns
19. Ray Stone
20. Jeremiah Simbiken
21. Connelly Lemuelu - Interesting.
22. Lachlan Hubner
23. Harrison Graham
24. Jarrod Wallace - Will play a lot of minutes when Flegler comes off.
25. Mason Teague - Almost forgot about this bloke. Should be better this year but in what position? No way he'll push Tommy Gilbert out of lock.
26. Brenton Baira

 

[Equaliser]

Full squad + analysis for the game this weekend:

1. Trai Fuller - Good luck. Hopefully he's put on a few kgs and is ready for a bit more NRL this year.
2. Jack Bostock - As above. If not this year, surely next.
3. Tesi Niu - Interesting. If the above is ready for NRL now, what becomes of Tessi?
4. Herbie Farnworth - Probably play only about 20 min.
5. Jamayne Isaako - As above.
6. Isaiya Katoa - As above + 20min. So 40 total.
7. Sean O'Sullivan - Good luck.
8. Thomas Flegler - Another on for only 20min.
9. Jeremy Marshall-King - Yet another 20min.
10. Mark Nicholls - Veteran
11. Euan Aitken - I like him on the bench or even Kafusi and Lemuelu for a starting spot.
12. Felise Kaufusi - 40min
13. Tom Gilbert - First game in 9 months. Probably a bit more than 40min.
    
    Interchange:
14. Max Plath - Auditioning for 5/8 or hooker?
15. Valynce Te Whare - Looking forward to seeing what a slimmer Val can do.
16. Jake Averillo - I thought he'd be starting.
17. Kurt Donoghoe - Give him 40min at 5/8 please Wayne.
18. Gerome Burns
19. Ray Stone
20. Jeremiah Simbiken
21. Connelly Lemuelu - Interesting.
22. Lachlan Hubner
23. Harrison Graham
24. Jarrod Wallace - Will play a lot of minutes when Flegler comes off.
25. Mason Teague - Almost forgot about this bloke. Should be better this year but in what position? No way he'll push Tommy Gilbert out of lock.
26. Brenton Baira

Looking forward to seeing what Aitken can do as an edge forward. In theory, he should be quite good. Runs hard and breaks tackles but doesn't pass much.

 

[mr_c]

Plath I think I saw they he can play lock too and wants more time there


i think tesi's in the right place with more kegs off him and knowing herbie its a good fit

Jeremiah Kurt Donoghoe highly doubt both been on development will be upgraded

intresting germome is been in both hes a highly promising older 5/8 that impressed me in first trial


connie be on the bench as he plays stronger in a impact role

 

[Equaliser]

Plath I think I saw they he can play lock too and wants more time there


i think tesi's in the right place with more kegs off him and knowing herbie its a good fit

Jeremiah Kurt Donoghoe highly doubt both been on development will be upgraded

intresting germome is been in both hes a highly promising older 5/8 that impressed me in first trial


connie be on the bench as he plays stronger in a impact role

Club seems to think highly of Plath. I haven't seen much of him. Wasn't that impressed but I'm sure Wayne knows what he is doing.

 

[mr_c]

i see ray stone is out with minior foot issue

 

[Equaliser]

i see ray stone is out with minior foot issue

Hopefully won't bother the NRL side much this year. Not a bad player but I think we can do better this year.

 

[Gary]

Hopefully won't bother the NRL side much this year. Not a bad player but I think we can do better this year.

Ray stone , is the player every team needs in their 17. Fantastic work effort and tough.

 

[Jetty]

Ray stone , is the player every team needs in their 17. Fantastic work effort and tough.

Mason might become an upgraded version of that. But probably not this year.

 

[Blockade]

Hopefully won't bother the NRL side much this year. Not a bad player but I think we can do better this year.

He'll be the first guy picked when available. WB rates him very highly.

 

[Josh]

He'll be the first guy picked when available. WB rates him very highly.

To have him and Gilbert in the 17 gives the forward pack a lot of grunt, allowing some of the other forwards to save their energy for attack.

 

[Equaliser]

He'll be the first guy picked when available. WB rates him very highly.

To have him and Gilbert in the 17 gives the forward pack a lot of grunt, allowing some of the other forwards to save their energy for attack.

Ok. I might have underestimated him.

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

I am a Ray Stone fan. Tackles till he dies. Defence is all attitude and heart. He has it in abundance.

I think the best way to show it, is he is only 25/26 from memory, but I bet most here thought he was 32/33. People think he is an old hard nut, because that’s how he plays.

 

[Josh]

I am a Ray Stone fan. Tackles till he dies. Defence is all attitude and heart. He has it in abundance.

I think the best way to show it, is he is only 25/26 from memory, but I bet most here thought he was 32/33. People think he is an old hard nut, because that’s how he plays.

I think he's 27 or 27 this year but yeah, I was also surprised. Seems to have been around for a long time. I thought he was older.

 

[Blockade]

There has been a fire overnight at the Sunny Coast Stadium and now grandstand seating is unavailable. They are giving us a full refund and offering us free general admission tickets. That sounds like chaos to me. We'll stay home and watch it on the tube.

 

[Dolph]

There has been a fire overnight at the Sunny Coast Stadium and now grandstand seating is unavailable. They are giving us a full refund and offering us free general admission tickets. That sounds like chaos to me. We'll stay home and watch it on the tube.

Sounds like Broncos sabotage.

 

[midlands hobo]

Morning all

 

[midlands hobo]

hubner is another

Lachlan hubner played last year v the Capra's and I was actually really impressed and put it on here somewhere. Glad I'm not the only one who sees it

 

[Jetty]

Morning all

Looking for a big season from you this year👍. Still might need a good ESL 5/8 or halfback. I think we are covered elsewhere.

 

[midlands hobo]

So last year wasn't it 20-20 v the titans in pre season? Let's see how things have moved