Dolphins into NRL’s final four with comeback win over Warriors

For nearly four decades Brisbane has been the Broncos’ turf, a status earned with seven premierships and a galaxy of stars.

On the penultimate weekend of this season, however, Suncorp Stadium will be painted red and white.

The new kids on the block, the Dolphins, are the toast of the town, booking a home preliminary final with a come-from-behind 26-16 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Go Media Stadium in Auckland.

The club has a long and rich history in Brisbane suburban football stretching back to 1947, but the NRL iteration is in its infancy and this was its finest hour to date.

In their first finals match, the Dolphins trailed 16-8 with 20 minutes remaining in what to that point had been an old-school battle of attrition featuring six penalty goals – five of them to the Warriors – and three sin-binnings.

But they stormed home with tries to Herbie Farnworth, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Jack Bostock to move to within just one match of a title decider in only their fourth season in the league.

“It’s one of those things you can’t describe what it means. It’s obviously massive for everyone involved at the club,” Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said. “The club has done such a good job over four years.

“The blokes who deserve the credit are the players. The way they played tonight, they bravery they showed under pressure, they’ve done that so many times at the back end of the season ... They’re in this position for a reason and that’s because they want to work hard and they want to work hard for each other.”

While the Dolphins will have the week off before their grand final qualifier, the Warriors will be forced to take the long route in the finals, starting with a sudden-death showdown against Newcastle next weekend.

Farnworth and Bostock stood up when it counted in the four-tries-to-one triumph while a hitherto quiet Tabuai-Fidow also shot to life in the closing stages to put the visitors in front with an end-to-end try.

Stung by the defeat, the Warriors could also again be without Jackson Ford against the Knights after he injured his ankle in his return from a torn pectoral muscle.

They had also suffered an unexpected blow before play when Leka Halamisa strained a hamstring in the warm-up and was scratched.

Amid the disappointment, Warriors coach Andrew Webster was putting on a brave face.

“I don’t think we can sulk for long. There’s another path for us,” Webster said.