Redcliffe claim first win of the year
The Redcliffe Dolphins have claimed their first points of the 2026 Hostplus Cup season with a 28-14 victory over a fast-finishing Townsville Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon.
In a tale of two halves at Kayo Stadium, Redcliffe shot out to a stunning 28-0 lead by the early stages of the second stanza before Townsville found a bit of spark to put some pressure on the home team.
But despite leaking 14 unanswered points in the final half hour of the Round 2 clash, the Dolphins showed strong cohesion and calm to deny the Blackhawks the win and begin their march up the competition ladder.
Captain Sheldon Pitama said that while it wasn’t pretty, there was a promising attitude among the team.
“We’re all turning up physically,” he said.
“I don’t think there were moments where we weren’t turning up for each other. That was one thing we took out of last week (Round 1 loss to Burleigh) from an attitude point-of-view… we are turning up together.
“A lot of the things that are going wrong are fixable, so that’s one positive.”
Pitama said improving combinations and ball security would be the focus moving forward, but he had a lot of confidence that would all improve naturally, particularly the combinations between players.
The potential of Redcliffe’s attack was certainly on show in the first half, with the Dolphins running rampant against their opponents.
The opening points came just eight minutes in when the right edge combined for Sam Elliott to send halfback Joshua James racing towards the try line.
Prop Riley Price then barged his way over 10 minutes later before winger Michael McGrath showed fancy footwork to extend the lead to 16-0 by the 22nd minute.
The left edge struck again just four minutes out from halftime, with fullback Kyle Coghill slicing through.
Redcliffe went into the halftime break up 22-0.
James scored the Dolphins’ only points in the second half, nabbing four points off a Jordan Plath kick.
The Dolphins will next week take on Wynnum Manly Seagulls at BMD Kougari Oval in Rivalry Round.