Down 24–0 in the Battle of Brisbane, the Dolphins looked headed for a derby hiding. What followed was a spectacular reversal at Suncorp Stadium.
The Dolphins stormed back to beat the Brisbane Broncos 40–32 on Saturday, 8 August, wiping out a four-try deficit before holding their cross-town rivals tryless throughout the second half.
Ezra Mam’s first-half hat-trick had Brisbane 30–18 ahead late in the opening half, but Herbie Farnworth struck just before halftime to cut the margin to six. From there, the Dolphins took over, outscoring Brisbane 16–2 after the restart to turn a nightmare opening into a memorable Battle of Brisbane win.
Dolphins Dig Their Way Out
There wasn’t much for Dolphins fans to celebrate during a brutal opening 20 minutes.
Billy Walters’ 40/20 handed Brisbane the early field position and Mam capitalised with the opening try in the fourth minute. He was through again three minutes later before Deine Mariner added Brisbane’s third in the 13th.
When Xavier Willison crossed in the 20th minute and Reece Walsh landed his fourth conversion, the Broncos were 24–0 clear and threatening to put the derby beyond reach before the Dolphins had properly settled into it.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow finally broke Brisbane’s run in the 24th minute and the response gathered pace quickly. Connelly Lemuelu crossed three minutes later before Jamayne Isaako added another in the 33rd, converting his own try to slash the margin to six.
Mam’s third try in the 35th minute checked the Dolphins’ momentum and restored Brisbane’s advantage to 30–18, but the closing minutes of the half would prove important.
Farnworth crossed in the 39th and Isaako’s conversion on halftime sent the Dolphins into the sheds only six points behind at 30–24 — a vastly different proposition from the 24-point hole they had been staring at midway through the half.
Dolphins Take Over After the Break
Brisbane’s early fluency disappeared as the Dolphins began finding more opportunities through errors and infringements.
Lemuelu grabbed his second try in the 50th minute and Isaako converted to make it 30–30, wiping out the last of Brisbane’s once-commanding advantage.
Walsh briefly put the Broncos back in front with a penalty goal in the 59th minute, but Brisbane couldn’t turn that 32–30 lead into anything more.
The Dolphins kept pressing and, after an Isaiya Katoa bomb, Tabuai-Fidow crossed for his second in the 67th minute. Isaako’s conversion made it 36–32 and put the Dolphins in front for the first time all afternoon.
Cobbo Puts the Derby Away
Brisbane still had time to respond, but Selwyn Cobbo made their task considerably harder when he crossed in the 71st minute to stretch the Dolphins’ advantage to 40–32.
Isaako missed the conversion, leaving an eight-point margin and enough time for Brisbane to threaten, but the Broncos couldn’t establish the sustained pressure they needed. An unsuccessful captain’s challenge came with less than five minutes remaining, while handling errors further disrupted their late push.
Brisbane had scored five tries by the 36th minute, three of them through Mam, with Walsh converting all five. Yet the Broncos didn’t cross again after Mam completed his hat-trick, their only second-half points coming from Walsh’s penalty goal.
For the Dolphins, the comeback came from across the park. Tabuai-Fidow and Lemuelu finished with two tries each, Isaako contributed a try and six conversions, Farnworth’s strike before halftime kept the recovery rolling and Cobbo supplied the final four-pointer.
Just as impressive was what happened at the other end. After being opened up repeatedly during Brisbane’s early barrage, the Dolphins kept the Broncos tryless for the rest of the match and won the second half 16–2.
From 24–0 down to 40–32 winners, it was some way to claim the Battle of Brisbane — and some way to earn the bragging rights at Suncorp Stadium.
FULL TIME: Dolphins 40–32 Brisbane Broncos
HALF TIME: Dolphins 24–30 Brisbane Broncos
Competition: 2026 NRL Telstra Premiership, Round 23
Date: Saturday, 8 August 2026
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Dolphins tries: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2, Connelly Lemuelu 2, Jamayne Isaako, Herbie Farnworth, Selwyn Cobbo
Goals: Jamayne Isaako 6/7
Brisbane Broncos tries: Ezra Mam 3, Deine Mariner, Xavier Willison
Goals: Reece Walsh 5/5 conversions, 1/1 penalty goal
Published 8-August-2026
