Isaiya Katoa provided the class and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow added the elite finishing power as the Dolphins destroyed the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The Dolphins racked up the half-century with 20 minutes to spare before recording a 56-6 victory, their biggest in their brief NRL life, to lift them into the top eight and blow St George Illawarra’s up-and-down finals prospects out of the water.
Katoa is only 21 but the third-year halfback is playing with the poise of a veteran to give the Dolphins direction and attacking punch that the Dragons sorely lacked.
In the earlier game, Dally M Medal winner Jahrome Hughes played puppeteer at AAMI Park as the Storm showed they are in a different league to North Queensland with a 38-14 romp.
1. Hammer the No.1 option
With speculation swirling about Kalyn Ponga’s place at fullback in Origin, the only Queensland fullback in form at the moment is the speedster who gets Dolphins fans to their feet every time he touches the ball.
Tabuai-Fidow has been magnificent at club level all season and the quality of his work against the Dragons not only had the spectators out of their sets but the defenders on red alert.
The Hammer didn’t even need to hit top gear when he backed up Jake Averillo for his first try and it was a similar case when Jack Bostock created the break for his second.
His selection rivals are Ponga, who drifts in and out of games for Newcastle and was underwhelming for Queensland in game one while Reece Walsh, who has been out injured for six weeks leading into his comeback for the Broncos on Saturday night against the Gold Coast.
By switching Tabuai-Fidow to fullback, Maroons coach Billy Slater would get a more dynamic option at the back to give them much-needed spark in their mission to reverse their opening loss to NSW.
Robert Toia handled his debut well at centre and Valentine Holmes could be shifted in from the wing to fill Tabuai-Fidow’s spot or Melbourne’s Jack Howarth called into the line-up out wide.
2. Dolphins now kings of Queensland
The Dolphins’ win and the Cowboys’ loss in Melbourne earlier in the evening made the NRL’s newest team the kings of Queensland.
They now have a better record than North Queensland and unless the Broncos rack up a cricket score on Saturday night against the last-placed Titans, Kristian Woolf’s team has bragging rights in the Sunshine State.
The Dolphins also have one of the best four records when it comes to for and against in the NRL, bumping their +42 differential up to +92 on the NRL ladder with their Dragons demolition.
Jack Bostock catches the ball before scoring. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Although their record of 6-7 suggests they will do well to make the finals, there’s something brewing at Redcliffe.
Rising star Isaiya Katoa enhanced his growing reputation with another stellar display to orchestrate the annihilation.
Jack Bostock not only climbed high over opponent Nathan Lawson’s shoulders for an AFL speccie for his first-half try but also rattled the rugby convert with the kind of thunderous hit that wingers don’t normally peel off.
Young forward Oryn Keeley also smashed Clint Gutherson with a perfectly timed bone rattler as the home team’s forwards did everything with more intensity than their St George Illawarra counterparts.
3. Dragons diabolical
The bubble burst on Friday night for a team that has been punching above their weight for the first half of the season.
St George Illawarra have been competitive in all their matches, apart from an Anzac Day mishap against the Roosters, but in Brisbane on Friday night they were never in the contest.
They had a “what might have been” moment early when rookie five-eighth Lykhan King-Tongia nearly crossed for a sizzling try down the right edge but Tabuai-Fidow jolted the ball free midway through the first half.
From there the Dragons’ night got rapidly worse with the Dolphins piling on five tries in the first half to accelerate to a 28-2 lead.
Connelly Lemuelu, who climbed high above Gutherson for an athletic first four-pointer, added his second just 60 seconds into the second half to restart the procession.
Tabuai-Fidow crossed twice and Isaako kept piling up the points at will to end up with 24 from two tries and eight conversions for the night to downright humiliate their opponents.
4. Why would Bellamy retire?
Few eyebrows were raised during the week when Craig Bellamy announced he would stick around for another year.
Melbourne have weathered the storm of the post-Big Three era to remain perennial title contenders and with pre-season favourites Penrith, Brisbane and the Roosters fading badly, the Storm have by far the most big-game experience in their team compared to the other sides at the the pointy end of the ladder.
Friday’s win was typical of the Storm at their best – Jahrome Hughes was a class above, replicating his Dally M Medal-winning form of last year to set up Eliesa Katoa for the first try then scoring one himself.
A money ball from Tom Dearden to Jaxson Paulo got the Cowboys on the scoreboard but a costly Scott Drinkwater fumble close to the line was followed by a Hughes touchdown up the other end just before the break to give the locals an 18-4 half-time buffer.
Hughes’ pin-point grubber allowed Nick Meaney to make it a 20-point lead before Drinkwater and Robert Derby raced over to give the visitors the faintest of sniffs.
But tries to Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Tyran Wishart ensured this was yet another Storm stroll in AAMI Park.
5. Cowboys shooting blanks
Cowboys coach Todd Payten took a leaf out of Bellamy’s book with a red-faced rev-up to his team at half-time in a bid to light a fire in them.
His passion was there for all to see on the broadcast cameras in the dressing room but it had little effect apart from a brief resurgence in the second stanza when the Cowboys cut Melbourne’s lead to 10.
When asked what he then said to his players after the 24-point thumping, he said: “The message was short and sharp. Pure disappointment.
“We didn’t make a good team earn anything. In the end it doesn’t matter when you crack so easily on your tryline and just give them leg-up after leg-up.
“It (the final margin) should have been more,” he added, bemoaning their lack of discipline in giving away penalties late in the tackle count and errors early in sets when they had possession.
“Some of our decisions, particularly coming out of our own end, cost us.
“We were fair from our best and I hate when we beat ourselves. We did exactly that.”
The Kick: Payten needs to make cut-throat call
Payten has shown throughout his coaching career that he’s not afraid to make big calls in order to solve a problem.
He needs to seriously question whether he can persist with Scott Drinkwater at fullback.
His defence, particularly on the goal line, is not up to NRL standard.
He can set up and score tries but he’s often a net zero, or a negative, on the scoreboard because he doesn’t get into the right position or put his body on the line enough when the Cowboys’ line is threatened.
Drinkwater managed to deny Hughes a hat-trick with a well executed try-saving tackle in the second half but his other attempts were all arms and legs and no shoulder.
Payten could look at switching him to the wing to retain his attacking firepower but his defensive deficiencies with young gun Jaxon Purdue or Zac Laybutt potentially better all-round options at the back.
