September 12, 2026 — 6:33pmFor nearly four decades Brisbane has been the Broncos’ turf, a status earned with seven premierships and a galaxy of stars.On the penultimate weekend of this season, however, Suncorp Stadium will be painted red and white.The new kids on the block, the Dolphins, are the toast of the town, booking a home preliminary final with a come-from-behind 26-16 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Go Media Stadium in Auckland.The club has a long and rich history in Brisbane suburban football stretching back to 1947, but the NRL iteration is in its infancy and this was its finest hour to date.In their first finals match, the Dolphins trailed 16-8 with 20 minutes remaining in what to that point had been an old-school battle of attrition featuring six penalty goals – five of them to the Warriors – and three sin-binnings.But they stormed home with tries to Herbie Farnworth, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Jack Bostock to move to within just one match of a title decider in only their fourth season in the league.While the Dolphins will have the week off before their grand final qualifier, the Warriors will be forced to take the long route in the finals, starting with a sudden-death showdown against Newcastle next weekend.Farnworth and Bostock stood up when it counted in the four-tries-to-one triumph while a hitherto quiet Tabuai-Fidow also shot to life in the closing stages to put the visitors in front with an end-to-end try.Stung by the defeat, the Warriors will be sweating on the fitness of Jackson Ford, who injured his ankle in his return from a torn pectoral muscle.They had also suffered an unexpected blow before play when Leka Halamisa strained a hamstring in the warm-up and was scratched.Dolphins players celebrate in the dying stages.Getty ImagesThe Dolphins were then left a man down soon after kick-off when Thomas Flegler’s head connected with Mitch Barnett’s hip in a tackle and he was ruled out with concussion.There followed a procession of players off the field for reasons other than injury and interchange in a highly charged first half.First, Halasima’s last-minute replacement Adam Pompey was sin-binned for a shoulder charge on Ray Stone, then Kurt Capewell and Selwyn Cobbo were each marched for 10 minutes for running to join a melee.That briefly left the Warriors with 11 versus 12 but they still managed to take a 12-8 lead to the break courtesy of Taine Tuaupiki, who spun and stepped beyond four defenders to score a fabulous individual try and booted three penalty goals.Andrew Webster’s side had leaked 88 points in the past three weeks but held their line desperately to restrict the Dolphins to a sole try to Cobbo, set up with a deft catch and pass from Farnworth.The Dolphins might have lost another to the sin bin 10 minutes after play resumed but Connelly Lemuelu escaped with going on report for a hip-drop tackle on Ali Leiataua.They slipped further behind with two more Tuaupiki goals.The stage was set for a thrilling finale just after the hour, however, when Farnworth scooped up a bouncing ball and swerved between three tacklers to cross the line.Six minutes later Tabuai-Fidow burst into action, racing clear from deep in the Dolphins’ territory before linking with Farnworth to hit the lead.Bostock’s opportunistic steal with five minutes on the clock clinched the late ambush.Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners