DOLPHINS 62
CANBERRA RAIDERS 24
IAN HOWE, Kayo Stadium, Sunday
NO TEAM has ever won the NRL Grand Final after conceding over 50 points in a regular-season game, but the Raiders will put that record to the test this season after their coach Ricky Stuart decided to field virtually a reserve side for their trip to Redcliffe on Sunday, given that they were already Minor Premiers regardless of the result.
Their side featured regulars Corey Horsburgh, who captained the side, and Englishman Morgan Smithies, while Smithies’ compatriot Matty Nicholson returned to the side after a lengthy injury absence.
The Dolphins scored eleven tries, with a hat-trick from Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, and one from the retiring Mark Nicholls, who was playing his last game before retirement and who was given the opportunity to convert his own try.
Unfortunately for them, the Roosters’ victory over the Rabbitohs on Friday night means that, despite the result, they have finished in ninth place on the NRL ladder and will miss out for the third season in a row on the play-offs after former St Helens coach Kristian Woolf’s first season in charge.
DOLPHINS: 1 Trai Fuller, 2 Jamayne Isaako, 3 Jake Averillo, 4 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 5 Tevita Naufahu, 6 Koki Nikorema, 7 Isaiya Katoa, 8 Francis Molo, 9 Jeremy Marshall-King, 10 Felise Kaufusi, 11 Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, 12 Oryn Keeley, 13 Kurt Donoghoe. Subs (all used): 14 Aublix Tawha, 15 Ray Stone, 16 Mark Nicholls, 17 Josh Kerr
Tries: Naufahu (8, 61), Keeley (23), Averillo (29, 78), Tabuai-Fidow (33, 38, 50), Stone (45), Nicholls (55), Isaako (73); Goals: Isaako 8/10, Nicholls 1/1
RAIDERS: 1 Chevy Stewart, 2 Savelio Tamale, 4 Sebastian Kris, 16 Manaia Waitere, 5 Michael Asomua, 6 Adam Cook, 7 Ethan Sanders, 8 Corey Horsburgh, 9 Owen Pattie, 10 Ata Mariota, 11 Noah Martin, 12 Matty Nicholson, 13 Morgan Smithies. Subs (all used): 14 Danny Levi, 15 Trey Mooney, 17 Joe Roddy, 18 Kain Anderson
Tries: Asomua (41), Martin (57), Roddy (65, 67); Goals: Cook 4/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0, 30-0; 30-6, 36-6, 42-6, 48-6, 48-12, 52-12, 52-18, 52-24, 56-24, 52-24
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match: Dolphins: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow; Raiders: Morgan Smithies
Penalty count: 8-7; Half-time: 30-0; Referee: Gerard Sutton; Attendance: 10,023