Time spent reconnecting with culture on Thursday Island has Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow primed and ready for the push ahead as the Dolphins chase their first finals appearance.
With a sold-out Battle for Brisbane clash ahead on Saturday to help celebrate the opening week of Indigenous Round, there is plenty to play for, with Tabuai-Fidow excited to see his Torres Strait Island culture in the spotlight.
“It’s obviously pretty important to me, especially being an Indigenous fella, being proud of Torres Strait Islander,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“This round is very important to my family; it's a special one.”
What was also special was a trip taken by the star fullback and other Dolphins representatives including Kristian Woolf up north to Thursday Island during the bye week, with Tabuai-Fidow saying his coach’s past time in North Queensland had seen him embrace Indigenous culture.
“It was a pretty special thing to do, especially from the club, wanting to go and just having that exposure to where I'm from and my background,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“We went to schools, did clinics with them and sort of just got to sightsee as well and having Woolfy up there … and he knows some boys that are Torres Strait Islanders.
“It was pretty cool to get up there, especially with the club.
“(With Woolf) growing up with Indigenous boys and girls, he knows how to work us out and how to get the best out of us.
“That’s something special to have.
“We can go into our shell and be pretty quiet, but I think we're growing out of that.
“Just as a culture, just being proud. And obviously Woolfy's proud of that as well.
“It's something special to have as a coach and that bond you can build as well.”
Dolphins v Broncos: Round 23
While Indigenous culture will be celebrated throughout the round, when it comes to the football on the field, Tabuai-Fidow said the attention would turn to claiming only their second win against the Broncos, with their rivals enjoying a 6-1 record.
The only win by the Dolphins so far was in Round 26, 2024 – a dominant 40-6 result.
“It's not a good stat to have, winning just one game and we've played a handful against them,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“It’s an exciting time for us where we're healthy and we're playing well, so it'll be a good challenge for us.
“It's always a challenge going up against them and I think it'll bring the best out of us.
“They are the reigning premiers and they haven't done too well this year, but I think this week is a game they'll be up for.
“(This game is) always an exciting one.
“It's the Battle of Brisbane and everyone gets up for this game and we know that they'll come out firing.
“We're excited and we're not worried about them too much.
“We're just worried about us and what we can build throughout the week and put on a show.”
However, he admitted they needed to make improvements following on from their shaky win over the Dragons if they were to get the win and especially if they were to build a platform to charge into the top four.
“It's obviously not a performance that we wanted,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“We still got the win, which is good. But it was a performance that we look back on and what we can work on.
“We know we're a better team than how we played on the weekend.
“It’s just little adjustments and a little skill work that we can work on, it does go a long way.
“We know what type of team we are and what we can do in this comp as well.
“Last week was just a little hiccup that we need to get over and I think we'll get over that pretty quick and get back to our best.
“We have five games left in the regular season and I think (it is) just about us getting back to how we want to play and the stuff we can do on the field and just that trust being built, that's most important now.
“We know our players will look after each other and have each other's backs.
“If we get back to that, we know we can go far in this comp.
“The top four is what type of team we are.
“You look across the park at the calibre of players we do have, we are a top four team.
“We just need to play an 80-minute game and get back to what we do best.
“When we are our best, we can go with any team in the comp.”
Match: Dolphins v Broncos
Round 23 -
home Team
Dolphins
5th Position
away Team
Broncos
15th Position
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
