Trai Fuller put a career's worth of highlights together inside 40 minutes as the Dolphins blew the Eels off the TIO Stadium turf on Friday night. The Phins racked up a new highest score, Jeremy Marshall-King proved how big a menace he is to defenders of all shapes and sizes, and fans got a glimpse into the future with Kristian Wolf sitting in the coaches box for an under the weather Wayne Bennett.
It was arguably the finest display we've seen from the NRL's 17th team, and it also featured the remarkable statistic of Jesse Bromwich becoming the first prop to start in 300 NRL games. A remarkable achievement in any era, but particularly so in the current one. Alongside it, was the fact this performance came despite the Dolphins missing seven front line players, and only two of them through suspension.
Miracles happen in rugby league, often against the very sternest of odds. Beneath the surface of this remarkable performance- and others like it- is the fact the NRL casualty ward is overflowing in 2024, as powerbrokers celebrate the increased speed and a significant decrease in time the ball spends being out of play.
Despite their convincing victory over the Raiders on Saturday night, the Broncos are counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds.
Local papers are running out of ink as they speculate and ruminate on the return of the proverbial cavalry. Adam Reynolds, Payne Haas, Brendan Piakura have been running, participating in opposed sessions and generally firming for a comeback.
And making their Darwin performance all the more remarkable, the Dolphins are well and truly experiencing a reiteration of their 2023 playing stocks nightmare, only this time it comes on the back of an impressive recruitment drive.
This was perhaps best illustrated when the two sides came together in Round 6. The Battle of Brisbane wasn't quite the rip snorting blockbuster Queensland fans had hoped for. It wasn't the stoush to redraw the battle lines in the South East, or the next phase of a juicy rivalry that began so promisingly in the corresponding fixture last year.
It was a tussle between two sides trying to keep early season hopes afloat amid crippling injury tolls, a plight being celebrated right across the league inside the early rounds of 2024.
Outside Suncorp Stadium, draped over the entrance just beyond the King Wally statue and the other heroes in statue alley on gameday morning, was a giant banner spruiking the ground as the 'Home of the Brisbane Broncos.' Sure, it's a claim that will reverse depending on who draws what in the annual NRL draw, but the point here is it was used to promote the heart and soul of the game in South East Queensland, and the onfield heroes who drive it.
Only thing is, two of the four players featured (Haas and Reynolds) weren't going to be playing. Nor was Deine Mariner, the excitement machine on the wing who has shown serious signs of developing into a superstar so far this season.
On the opposite side, the Dolphins' two biggest recruits so far- as celebrated in street pole banners around the CBD- are undoubtedly Herbie Farnworth and Tom Flegler. One of the major drawcards to the 'Battle of Brisbane' was the inclusion of these two, Broncos grand finalists just months ago.
Only thing is, they weren't going to be playing. Nor was Maroons enforcer and fan favourite Felise Kaufusi, rising powerhouse Tom Gilbert, or the effervescent (if often out of position) Kodi Nikorima.
A tough hand, and surely it couldn't get much worse?
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was the marquee man the Dolphins had on their books all along without realising it. Ahead of their league debut last year, all the noise was about the lack of a genuine rolled, gold star. As the year progressed, realisation slipped in, this guy was THE guy. His stirring debut season in red and gold was enhanced further in the early rounds of this season. The odd error and defensive misread aside, 'Hammer' is box office, and a joy to watch in full flight.
Only thing is, that'll be missing for at least a month, after the 22-year old embarked on a pointless chase of Corey Oates and did a hamstring.
Reece Walsh is arguably even bigger at the box office, and seeing him return early and with confidence was a positive tonic for Broncos fans, who are banking on a midseason run at full strength to propel them back toward the finals.
The Darwin blitz means the Dolphins have maintained a mostly positive start to the year, amid widespread casualties. And they are not alone. As of Round 6, almost a fifth of the NRL's top 30 squad members were sidelined. Not just one club, that's across the entire league. More than 90 out of just over 500- sidelined. And yet, the NRL is making big noises about the increased speed of the game- more time in play, faster play the balls, more line breaks = a better all round product.
Few could argue the game has been great so far in 2024. But wasn't it great last year, and the year before that, and so on? Isn't rugby league an amazing product already- without the addition and celebration of attrition inducing rule tweaks that are forcing heavy, powerful athletes to run non stop?
As the Roosters and Storm went hammer and tong in the Round 7 opener, breakneck speed combining with frequent car crash impacts, commentators frequently marveled at the lack of set restarts. It actually seemed weird to the Fox footy team that only a handful of bells had rung as the game wound toward a gripping conclusion.
Heads were scratched when Joey Manu was the beneficiary of a Joseph Suali'i tapped back Luke Keary cross field kick and scored, as Storm defenders- not wanting to disrupt anything, basically stood back and watched him. They second guessed themselves as they hypothesised at potential obstructions in the lead-up to Xavier Coates' match winner, and rued the blowing of the whistle for a number of other perceived infringements.
Tired defenders, themselves confused by the interpretations; are either second-guessing and hesitating their way through sets, or charging at full flight for periods substantially longer than their bodies are built to sustain. These are NRL athletes, not AFL. Frames are built for impact, explosive effort, and crucially- recovery. Coaches will take full advantage of tweaks to officiating (just look at the number of tries from kicks so far this year), and why wouldn't they? They're all battling for their jobs, and the only option is to try and keep pace with the endless desire for more, more, more.
Sources inside the walls of Cowboys HQ have admitted Todd Payten has battled to name an NRL standard squad in recent weeks. Team list Tuesday has been an agonising prospect as the club wrestles with finding depth to cover the likes of Hess, Taulagi, Laybutt, Luki and Taunoa-Brown.
And the Titans, haunted by the duck egg of a winless start and slowly finding some grit under Des Hasler, have added Jayden Campbell to the injured roster, alongside skipper and superstar Tino Fa-asuamaleaui and Keenan Palasia. Not as lengthy a list as other clubs, but worth mentioning in one of the NRL's less star-studded top 30's. Similarly short lists exist for the Panthers, Dragons and Eels- where the lack of casualties is offset by the caliber of names sitting out. Whereas the Bulldogs, Warriors, Roosters and Rabbitohs have at least half a dozen frontliners sitting out. This isn't including suspensions.
The NRL has worked hard to emulate the US sporting market; infiltrate it, conquer it, and replicate its fan and broadcast experience on home shores and abroad. In many ways they've succeeded. The game is marketed better than it ever has been, its community impact makes news every day of every week, its global reach gradually expands, its athletes are recognised (for the most part) as the ones who turn the turnstiles. But where the games' powerbrokers are missing a trick, is in trying to create a product that never, ever, loses the attention of the fans. Less stoppages means more time in play, more gaps, more speed, and more fans not getting bored. And yet, rugby league doesn't have time out's built in like those codes do.
HQ will celebrate the speed, skill and spectacle, and continue to push for more football. But for the fans watching on, does the product diminish by not having its headline stars present? There's one big question for Andrew Abdo and his team to ponder as the season is barely a quarter the way through.
At what cost?