Revenge of the discards: How new and improved Tabuai-Fidow buried his old club

Bit by bit, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow has sought to evolve his game to thrust his name among the NRL’s upper echelon of fullbacks, and the Dolphins’ superstar added another chapter to that mission in style on Sunday afternoon.

Against his former North Queensland Cowboys teammates, ‘The Hammer’ masterminded his side to 36-16 triumph at Suncorp Stadium to cast aside his former life as a lethal running threat who lacked the same work rate and playmaking nous as his rivals.

The Queensland Maroons flyer was instrumental in the Dolphins’ first try, holding up his pass for Selwyn Cobbo enough to provide Jamayne Isaako with just enough room to tip-toe down the sideline and complete a remarkable finish in the corner.

But it was in the second half when Tabuai-Fidow showcased just how far his playmaking had come, holding up his pass with a double pump brilliantly to once again give Isaako a chance to complete a miraculous put down in the corner.

He finished with 234 running metres, two linebreaks and nine tackle busts.

“When ‘Hammer’s’ playing with confidence he’s got all the skill sets in any game to do those kinds of things, and the best thing about ‘Hammer’ is he’s worked so hard at his craft, and it shows in his confidence out there,” Dolphins co-captain Tom Gilbert said.

A desire to blossom into one of rugby league’s leading fullbacks is what forced Tabuai-Fidow away from North Queensland and to Redcliffe, after the Cowboys entrusted Scott Drinkwater as their main man for the No.1 jumper.

The latter is now moving to the Dragons, with Jaxon Purdue now viewed as the club’s long-term future.

But Tabuai-Fidow, still just 24 and on track to become the greatest try scorer in State of Origin history, has become one of the game’s more well-rounded custodians – demonstrating a knack for coming up with brilliant try-saving tackles as well as his evolving playmaking strengths.

His eight try-assists for the year is already a career-best statistic.

Tabuai-Fidow was joined by his fellow former Cowboys Gilbert, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Connelly Lemuelu – as well as Felise Kaufusi, who played under-20s for the club – in producing standout performances.

Both Gilbert and Kaufusi scored courtesy of silky pass from Kurt Donoghoe, with Gilbert producing his finest performance since making his comeback from a ruptured pec this year.

The Dolphins’ co-captain cut a dejected and embarrassed figure after last week’s 66-0 capitulation against Cronulla, but avenged that with 148 running metres from 17 carries.

Finefeuiaki (173 metres, one linebreak) and Lemuelu (142 metres) were also allowed to leave the Cowboys due to the emergence of Jeremiah Nanai and Heilum Luki. But the pair outgunned their old squad mates, with Lemuelu scoring the final try after running onto a short pass from Kodi Nikorima.

Dearden’s signs of life amid harsh call

His comeback came with it a brutal expense, but the returning Tom Dearden has signalled to the NRL the North Queensland Cowboys can be genuine smokies to clinch the NRL premiership if they can rectify the ball control which cost them on Sunday.

Having been sidelined since round 10 after suffering a syndesmosis injury – a setback which cost him from featuring for Queensland in the State of Origin series – Dearden quickly issued a reminder of the threat he possesses by scoring the first try of the afternoon, and setting up the second with a deft grubber for Nanai.

“It felt good to be back out there, and I think performance wise there’s still a bit of rust there and things to work on. I’ll build on that performance,” Dearden said.

The 2025 Wally Lewis Medallist was always assured his spot back in the Cowboys fold, but the fact it came at the cost of Jake Clifford was perhaps the harshest calls coach Todd Payten has needed to make this season.

Payten’s decision to partner Dearden with young Jaxon Purdue, who has mostly featured in the centres despite coming through the ranks in the halves, appeared to be a hint to the future of what the Cowboys’ long-term playmaking partnership will be.

It is a move that may have backfired, however, with North Queensland struggling to get in sync after their fast start and unable to manage the contest as the Dolphins attacking began to click into gear.

“It was a really difficult decision to be fair, but with the way the game finished last week [one point win against Manly] and the 24 to 48 hours after that I was really worried about him getting his head around playing well,” Payten said.

“We had all our back five available, and Jacko’s [Purdue’s] past three weeks were really strong, so it was a decision based on what was best for us this week. We’ll look at the tape, and have a dicussion and make a decision moving forward.”

The Katoa void

While the Dolphins escaped with the result, some serious attention needs to be put on their fifth-tackle options in the continued absence of halfback Isaiya Katoa.

Mistakes had already cost them defensively – a wayward Brad Schneider pass intercepted by Cowboys’ winger Murray Taulagi in the lead-up to Dearden’s try – and Kristian Woolf’s men were guilty of butchering five chances deep in North Queensland territory across the opening 40 minutes.

Three of those came from poor fifth-tackle options as Schneider, Kodi Nikorima and Jeremy Marshall-King all opting to run the ball without much on, rather than search for a kick, while two other chances were curtailed by simple errors.

It was initially hoped Katoa would return after next week’s bye to take on the Dragons. However, he now appears more likely a round 23 comeback against the Broncos.

Fortunately, the Dolphins’ defence gave them enough time to build into the contest, missing just 24 tackles to the Cowboys’ 55.

While that desperation threatened to cost them late as a covering Morgan Knowles forced the ball free from Soni Luke’s arms for Scott Drinkwater to score, it was a far cry from the team who fell apart against the Sharks a week ago in a display which left their premiership credentials on tilt.

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