Josh Kerr is coming home to the Dolphins and will join the club immediately.
The Dragons have released the Redcliffe Dolphins’ junior with immediate effect and he will begin training at Kayo Stadium this week.
He will be available for selection for the Dolphins’ next game against the Eels at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Saturday.
Kerr had already signed a two-year deal to play with the Dolphins that was to begin in 2024.
But now he will be able to don the red, white and gold from this week, and continue an association with the Dolphins club that began in the junior grades.
Dolphins’ chief executive Terry Reader said Kerr’s early arrival was a mid-season bonus.
“Josh has obviously been keen to join the Dolphins as the club where he began playing rugby league 20 years ago,” said Reader.
"He is a high-quality acquisition for the club, and to get him for the rest of the 2023 season is huge development for our list.
“We had one spot left in our top 30, and for it to be a local junior coming home to play is a great story.
“Josh will immediately feel like he belongs in a Dolphins jersey and I am sure our fans will give him the welcome home he deserves.”
The 197-centimetre Kerr will add significant size to the Dolphins’ pack and made his NRL debut in 2019.
He has played 68 NRL games, including all 14 matches for the Dragons this year, and has represented the Indigenous All Stars team five times.
Kerr has previously worked under Dolphins’ coach Wayne Bennett in the 2020 Queensland State of Origin squad.
He was the Maroons’ 18th man in the second match of the 2020 series, and despite not playing in the series received the team’s FOGs Peter Jackson Memorial Medal for his contributions in the camp as Queensland produced a stunning upset series win.
