Dolphins put Tigers to the sword as season approaches midway point

Redcliffe have recorded a statement victory over the Brisbane Tigers, with a dominant second half securing the win against a fellow top eight team.

With the Hostplus Cup competition at the midway point of the season, the Dolphins headed to Totally Workwear Stadium on Saturday poised for a testing clash that would help see where they stand after the first 11 rounds.

And – while the opening 40 minutes was tit-for-tat between the two sides – a resounding performance in the final 40 showed Redcliffe are determined to stay a top two side, with the Dolphins running away with a 40-22 win.

In what was prop Riley Price’s 50th Hostplus Cup game, the first points went to Redcliffe, when five-eighth Kyle Coghill danced his way towards the line in the 4th minute.

Five minutes later, quick hands down Redcliffe’s left edge then sent NRL-affiliated winger Tevita Naufahu racing along the sideline to extend the lead to 10-0.

The home team team hit back through Samuela Vakadula and then Kea Pere to equal the score, before hooker Brent Woolf helped forward Sam Elliott returned the favour for Redcliffe, with the No.8 crashing over the line in the 24th minute.

Unfortunately for the away side, Tigers backrower Clay Webb scored just six minutes out from the break, with the two teams going into the break locked up at 16-all.

The Dolphins then came out in the second stanza with their eyes on the prize, with Naufahu combining again with Coghill and centre Jude Saldanha to score shortly after halftime.

Fullback Trai Fuller then did what he does best and scored a near-length-of-the-field try, running an incredible 85-metres.

From here the floodgates opened and Redcliffe started to sprint away with the game – the backs in particular running riot through Brisbane’s disjointed defence.

The next two tries went to Saldanha – who had already helped Naufahu to his own double – with the centre scoring in the 60th and 71st minutes.

The Tigers found the line just once in the second half, through Zach Lamont, but it wasn’t enough against the fast-finishing Dolphins.

Redcliffe will next face the Western Clydesdales in Round 12 before a well-deserved bye.

They will return home to Kayo Stadium in Round 14 to take on the third-placed Ipswich Jets on Sunday June 21.