Dolphins fight their way into the preliminary finals
The Redcliffe Dolphins have progressed to the Hostplus Cup preliminary finals after showing incredible resilience to overcome the Townsville Blackhawks 20-16 on Saturday afternoon.
In a thrilling showdown at Townsville’s Jack Manski Oval, the Dolphins fought to the dying seconds to advance to the next stage, booking themselves a clash with this year’s minor premiers, the Burleigh Bears.
Centre Will Partridge scored the winning try for Redcliffe, combining with five-eighth Dantoray Lui and backrower Tom Opacic to run 30 metres and score on the left edge with just 11 minutes left on the clock.
It required a massive final 10 minutes from the Dolphins to hold out a brave Blackhawks outfit, but they did so to guarantee their fourth straight win.
Halfback and co-captain Josh James said after the game that Redcliffe had shown plenty of guts and determination over the past month – since they last played the Blackhawks – to go from ninth on the competition ladder to one win away from the grand final.
“There’s an unbelievable amount of belief,” James told Qplus.tv.
“We were sort of down in the dumps five weeks ago and we were going into versing these boys (Townsville) and were sitting ninth on the ladder.
“We needed to win to get back in the eight and we ended up turning around the season from there. We’ve been stepping in the right direction.
“Today wasn’t the prettiest of games but sometimes you have to win tough like that and I think that’s exactly what we did. It’s a really good sign.”
The scoring opened on Saturday afternoon in the same way it finished, with Partridge crossing in the corner on the back of a stunning pass from winger Will Dobson.
With a 4-0 lead, the game turned slightly rocky for the away team as a number of errors stopped them from building any real momentum. Townsville took advantage with tries to Jack Campagnolo and Kalifa Faifai Loa giving them a 10-4 lead at halftime.
But a resurgent Dolphins fought back in the second half, with James – who was earlier denied – slamming the ball down over the line in the 45th minute to set the tone for the final stanza.
“I needed to calm myself down a little bit there,” James said of his try.
“We were a bit frantic.
“I tucked the ball under my wing and thought, ‘I just have to score here,’ and somehow I managed to do so.
“It wasn’t just me scoring that try that flicked the momentum there but it was a team effort. We all got on the back of that and it was really impressive.”
Zac Miles and Dobson combined immediately off the back of the try, with the fullback flying high to collect a massive James kick, putting Dobson over out wide just three minutes later.
Townsville scored again in the 57th minute through Bailey Biondi-Odo, but Partridge had the last laugh with his four-pointer – his fifth try in two outings against the Blackhawks.
“He’s real tenacious,” James said of Partridge.
“He can’t stand losing, even at training. His will to win is really, really good and it’s a pleasure to be on his team
“He will never say die.”
The Dolphins will continue their finals campaign against the Bears next Saturday, with the two teams to meet at UAA Park on the Gold Coast.