Dolphins hero sets Suncorp alight with 43m winner to sink Warriors in crazy golden point finish
Dolphins playmaker Sean O’Sullivan has booted one of the best field goals of 2024 to down the Warriors 34-32 and put his side back in the top eight following a golden point thriller at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
O’Sullivan called for the ball on the fifth tackle and then launched a left-foot bomb from 43 metres out on the angle and it sailed over to send the home crowd into raptures.
The Dolphins led 26-12 in the second half but the Warriors stormed back into the contest and sent the game into golden point after it finished 32-32 after 80 minutes.
The Dolphins scored the opener two tries, with Felise Kaufusi the unlikely first try-scorer before Englishman Herbie Farnworth raced 90 metres to cross for the second.
The visitors struck back when Edward Kosi hauled in a kick to score in the 22nd minute but the Dolphins scored another eight points before the break.
On the stroke of halftime, Warriors veteran Walker was binned for a high shot on Mark Nicholls but immediately checked on the prop and took his mouthguard out in a great show of sportsmanship.
It proved a hectic second stanza as the Warriors piled on five tries to two, including a penalty try, but it wasn’t enough as poor goalkicking once again came back to haunt them.
Chanel Harris-Tavita went 4/6 off the tee and also missed two field goals to win the game at the death.
The Dolphins are no eighth on the ladder with four games to play in a result that marked a major blow to the finals chances of their cross-town rivals the Broncos.
Here are three of the game’s biggest talking points from NCA Newswire’s Jack Brady.
RUGBY LEAGUE ROULETTE
Conjecture over what constitutes a high tackle in the modern game continues to bubble away following two detrimental Warriors incidents late in the first half.
Veteran winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was penalised in the 35th minute for a high shot which resulted in a Dolphins penalty goal, despite never coming in contact with the head of Ray Stone.
Minutes later Warriors lock Dylan Walker was sin-binned for a shot on Mark Nicholls, a glancing blow from his shoulder ending Nicholls’s game prematurely.
Both calls earned the ire of Panthers legend and Fox League pundit Greg Alexander, who questioned whether the punishments fit the crime.
“I’m all for protecting players and everything they’re doing with concussions, but there’s been some tackles over the last few weeks where I’ve seen no head contact [be penalised] and the player being tackled not even realising,” Alexander said.
“The Tuivasa-Sheck tackle is at an important point of the game which allows the Dolphins to go ahead by another two points.
“The contact there from Dylan Walker is questionable, but does he deserve to go to the bin for that?”
The Tuivasa-Sheck penalty in particular proved vital in the grand scheme, with the ensuing penalty goal proving the difference by game’s end.
FOOL ME ONCE
The game was only 15 minutes deep when Suncorp Stadium stood as one.
Typically when a front-rower kicks ahead, as Warriors skipper Mitch Barnett did in this instance, it usually means there’s been a breakdown in play, much to the benefit of the receiving team.
But when that player picking up the scraps is Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, then surely all bets are off.
The Dolphins livewire picked the ball up mere metres away from the dead ball line and set sail, destined for the tryline 105 metres down field.
The crowd was in raptures as Tabuai-Fidow weaved through several would-be Warriors defenders, only to drop the ball 35 metres into his point-scoring endeavour thanks to the defensive nous of counterpart Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
60 seconds is a long time in rugby league. As the Dolphins’ faithful quickly learned.
Still shaking the dreads of disappointment, they watched on in the next set as Nicoll-Klokstad’s attempt to bat a kick back to his teammates landed in the hands of their own Max Plath.
Question marks over trusting a half break ever again were immediately dispersed as Plath poked his head through and offloaded to Herbie Farnworth, who chimed in to finish an exhilarating 85-metre play.
Not to be outdone, the Dolphins were treated to a further two long range efforts throughout, which resulted in a Jake Averillo double. The centre’s second helped the Dolphins regain the advantage late in regulation time.
PLAYMAKERS TAKE THEIR CHANCES
The much-maligned Dolphins’ foundational halfback O’Sullivan has been restricted to just six games in 2024 but proved the hero despite starting the game from the interchange.
In a week where legendary halfback Shaun Johnson announced his retirement, his heir apparent Te Maire Martin made his intentions for the famed Warriors’ No. 7 jumper known.
Martin had a hand in five tries, including a four-pointer of his own, in yet another Warriors effort that was felled at the final hurdle.
