The Dolphins are through to a preliminary final after turning an eight-point second-half deficit into a 26–16 win over the Warriors in Auckland, extending their remarkable late-season run to eight straight victories.
For almost an hour, their first NRL final was a grind. The Warriors had the crowd behind them, a lead on the scoreboard and Taine Tuaupiki steadily adding points from the kicking tee, while the Dolphins struggled to turn their opportunities into enough scoreboard pressure.
That changed in the final quarter. Herbie Farnworth crossed in the 60th minute, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow followed six minutes later and Jack Bostock added another in the 74th, transforming a 16–8 deficit into a 26–16 victory.
It was not the free-flowing afternoon their recent scoring form might have suggested. The Dolphins instead had to stay with a finals match that became messy and frustrating before their attacking players finally found the openings they needed.
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Warriors Keep the Scoreboard Moving
New Zealand were happy to take points whenever the Dolphins gave them the opportunity. Tuaupiki kicked an eighth-minute penalty before Jamayne Isaako answered four minutes later, then scored the opening try in the 15th minute and converted it himself.
Another Tuaupiki penalty made it 10–2 before Selwyn Cobbo gave the Dolphins their first try in the 25th minute. Isaako converted and, despite New Zealand having controlled much of the opening quarter, the margin was back to two.
The game then entered a chaotic stretch. Adam Pompey was sent to the sin bin in the 28th minute before Kurt Capewell and Cobbo were both binned five minutes later. Isaiya Katoa was also placed on report during the same passage.
Very little scoring came from all that disruption. Tuaupiki’s penalty on the stroke of half-time was the only further addition, sending the Warriors to the sheds 12–8 ahead.
That was largely how New Zealand had built their advantage. The teams had scored one try each, but the Warriors kept taking the two points on offer and making the Dolphins chase them.
Dolphins Stay Within Reach
The Dolphins’ habit of conceding starts had been one of the concerns heading to Auckland after their huge recoveries against Brisbane and Gold Coast. This time the deficit never became quite as alarming, although they again spent a long period playing from behind.
Tuaupiki kicked two more penalties early in the second half, stretching the Warriors’ lead to 16–8 by the 53rd minute. New Zealand had now kicked five penalty goals but still had only one try, leaving the Dolphins close enough for one productive attacking spell to change the match.
Farnworth provided it in the 60th minute, breaking through for a try that Isaako converted to make it 16–14. Six minutes later Tabuai-Fidow found his way through and Isaako’s conversion put the Dolphins ahead for the first time at 20–16.
After spending most of the afternoon trying to get back on terms, the Dolphins suddenly had New Zealand chasing them. The game had also opened enough for their dangerous runners to become a much bigger factor.
Bostock Puts It Beyond Reach
There was still plenty of time for New Zealand at 20–16, but the Dolphins looked increasingly threatening once they had the lead. Bostock had already broken the Warriors line earlier in the half and, in the 74th minute, he crossed for the try that effectively settled the contest.
Isaako’s conversion took the score to 26–16 and completed a faultless afternoon from the tee. He kicked four conversions and a penalty goal, while Cobbo, Farnworth, Tabuai-Fidow and Bostock shared the Dolphins’ four tries.
New Zealand’s scoring had a very different shape. Tuaupiki accounted for all 16 Warriors points with their only try, a conversion and five penalty goals.
Those twos had been enough to keep the Dolphins at arm’s length for much of the afternoon. Once Farnworth and Tabuai-Fidow struck six minutes apart, however, the Warriors needed tries of their own and could not find them.
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A Win With Some Rough Edges
The Dolphins did not come through the afternoon without concerns. Thomas Flegler left for an HIA inside the opening 10 minutes and did not return, while Kodi Nikorima and Connelly Lemuelu were both placed on report during the second half.
Discipline also helped the Warriors accumulate their five penalty goals, and the three first-half sin bins made an already tight contest difficult to settle. Against a side able to turn more of those opportunities into tries, the Dolphins could have faced a much steeper climb.
What mattered in Auckland was that they never allowed the Warriors to get far enough away. An eight-point deficit after 52 minutes did not force them to abandon their game, and when the chances came, the players who have driven much of their late-season surge took them.
Farnworth brought the Dolphins back within two, Tabuai-Fidow put them ahead and Bostock gave them the breathing room they needed to see out the afternoon.
Eight Straight and Into the Final Four
Before the match, Auckland presented a different test of the run that had carried the Dolphins to third place. They had won seven straight, but none of those games had involved finals pressure or a trip to a ground where the Warriors had lost only twice all season.
Their eighth win looked different from many that came before it. They spent most of the match behind, lost Flegler early and had to negotiate a contest punctuated by penalties, sin bins and long periods when the Warriors controlled the scoreboard.
The decisive passage came after the hour mark. Farnworth scored in the 60th minute, Tabuai-Fidow in the 66th and Bostock in the 74th, turning an eight-point deficit into a 10-point win.
The Dolphins will now sit out next weekend before returning for a preliminary final, one victory away from a grand final appearance.
Four seasons into their NRL life, their first finals match has ended with their first finals win.
Published 12-September-2026
