Phins Up: The Dolphins are back folks By Chase Christensen

Credit: Wallpapers.com 

The Dolphins are firing and have got fans buzzing, as they’ve had an extraordinary recovery- winning three straight games after a winless first month of the season.  

The Phins haven’t had to leave Queensland in the last month, which has been beneficial for travel fatigue. The atmosphere at Suncorp for their last two home games has been electric, given they were victorious over both of last year’s grand finalist’s in back-to-back weeks.  

Their first win of the season came in a Queensland derby against the Gold Coast Titans. It was a highly important, dominant 26-point victory on the Gold Coast. A loss against the Titans would have meant five straight losses to begin the season and their finals chances all but vanished only five rounds into their 2025 campaign.  

It was the first weekend of the NRL’s ‘high-tackle crackdown,’ therefore both teams had to be extra careful with their defensive contact. This was not the case, as each team had one player sin binned, including Titan Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in the first minute of the match and Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow took advantage, as he scored just minutes into Tino’s punishment.  

By the time the Titans got on the board, the game win was already wrapped up by the Dolphins, as it took Gold Coast 65 minutes to score their first try after being down 28-0. It was key for Kristian Woolf’s men’s ‘O’ to go on their win-loss record, but a tough two weeks were ahead, so their Gold Coast victory could’ve been a needle in a haystack of losses.  

The Dolphins answered any questions fans had of them after the first five rounds by knocking off Penrith, followed by Melbourne. When entering the Penrith game, both teams were desperate for a win, as each team had just one all season. It was clear which team were more desperate, as the Dolphins simply outplayed the reigning premiers. It was a slightly even contest in the first half. Despite the Phins lead of 18-6 at halftime, it still felt like they had plenty of work to do if they wanted to secure their second straight win. This was no problem as they comfortably finished the game off in style, particularly with The Hammer scoring a runaway try in the 79th minute.  

Finally, the Dolphins had a chance to finish off a three-peat of wins. There wasn’t a tougher team then the Melbourne Storm to do it against though, as Melbourne walked into this match with just one loss all season. Storm led 16-2 early in the match. During this point of the match, it felt like the air was sucked out of Suncorp Stadium and any improvement in the last two weeks had been thrown out the window, but again, the Phins responded. They scored 40 unanswered points- ultimately winning the match 42-22. It was unbelievable, it is one of, if not the best Dolphins win in their short NRL history. Not many people gave them a chance and they shut everyone up in the toughest match of the season.  

The Dolphins have won three straight and they now have so much potential this season. They currently sit two positions outside the top eight and have a relatively easy month ahead, as they play Canberra, Parramatta, New Zealand and the Roosters. They have proven they’ll be a top team to watch this season and a first ever finals birth may be in the 2025 script for the Dolphins.