Grand final heartbreak for Redcliffe Dolphins
Photos: Zain Mohammed/QRL
The Dolphins fought to the end but fell short against a dominant Norths Devils team in the 2024 Hostplus Cup Grand Final at Kayo Stadium this afternoon.
Recent grand final experience, quality attack and defence, and an on-fire Tesi Niu proved the difference for the Devils who won 34-20 in front of more than 7000 footy fans at Redcliffe.
Niu was electric, scoring two tries and clocking up 215 run metres. His efforts won him the Duncan Hall Medal for player of the match.
The Dolphins went out hard in the first half but were down 12-0 after 17 minutes and had to dig deep to get themselves back in the game. They went into the sheds 18-10 at half time.
The Devils scored first after the break extending the lead to 24-10 before Josh Kerr scored for the Dolphins in the 47th minute from a beautifully placed Harrison Graham kick to reduce the deficit to 24-16.
The Dolphins looked as though they might come back when James Walsh scored in the 61st minute, but two more tries to the Devils sealed it for the visitors.
The Redcliffe faithful turned out in big numbers to cheer on their boys, but it wasn’t enough to get them over the line.
The win is the Devils’ third premiership in four years and follows their grand final win over the Dolphins in 2022.
Redcliffe Dolphins CEO Scott Clark said he was proud of the team’s efforts, against the odds, this season.
“We seemed like we were always up against it, losing players here and there, but they’ve always fought hard and they did that again over the last couple of week. I can’t be prouder,” Clark said.
“They did it again today. They hung in there they let the other team get out to a good lead, but we kept fighting back so it was good to see.”
Josh Kerr, who has also played for the Dolphins’ NRL side this season, told Fox League Redcliffe missed star fullback Trai Fuller who suffered an ACL injury in last week’s win over Northern Pride but had the belief they could win.
“I’m upset for the boys that worked so hard and trained so hard for this, but it is what it is,” he said.
Redcliffe captain Max Bailey thanked the Dolphins fans for turning out to support the team today and he also praised his team.
“Thanks boys for this year ... (we) just couldn’t get it done in the end. Well done Norths Devils. You’ve had an amazing year and you’ve got an amazing squad,” he said.