Dolphins star Max Plath has been safeguarded from any potential poaching raid by the NRL’s newest incoming franchise, with the Redcliffe-based club moving to retain the young forward long-term.
Despite already being signed with the Dolphins until 2027, the versatile 23-year-old has inked a one-year extension, taking his deal through to the end of 2028.
Papua New Guinea will join the competition in 2028, but Plath will no longer be an option, despite talk of tax breaks for players signing to join the ambitious venture.
Max Plath has extended his tenure with the Dolphins to the end of 2028.Credit: NRL Photos
“It didn’t really cross my mind, I want to stay here,” Plath said when asked of the PNG option.
“It means everything to me: I love this community, I love this club, and I have an extra year here and a bit more security.”
Plath has blossomed into a player eerily similar to that of his father, John, who won four premierships with the Broncos as a bench utility.
He has plied his trade at lock, hooker and five-eighth, but is poised to line up in the back row when the Dolphins launch their season against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Plath got a taste of the new challenge that awaited him on the edge during his side’s Preseason Challenge defeat to the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, making 33 tackles but missing eight – his efficiency of 73.33 per cent significantly below his career average in the middle of 95.89 per cent.
But Plath was confident he would adjust to his new role, one he has taken on to accommodate the return of star lock Tom Gilbert from a ruptured ACL.
“It’s a bit different, you are thinking through your tackles and trying to read offences and communicating inside and outside. Instead of being in the washing machine, you are one out, and trying to think a bit more,” Plath said.
Max Plath will have the chance to announce himself as a genuine State of Origin contender.Credit: Getty Images
“It is a bit different, but all a learning opportunity. There is a lot I took out of that game, and a lot of things I need to work on.
“For me, it is being that option to play 80 minutes. That was my first game [in the role] on the weekend, and I am still growing in that position.”
While Plath would like to emulate his father’s premiership-winning exploits, he could be on the cusp of attaining a fresh milestone for his family.
For all of Plath senior’s successes, he never got the chance to don the Maroons’ State of Origin jumper, but his in-form son would have to be on this year’s radar.
After averaging more than 42 tackles a game last season, Plath represents the versatility and hard-nosed approach Maroons coach Billy Slater has favoured in his selections – a fate that could be his, given the uncertain representative future of typical Queensland No.14 Ben Hunt.
But Plath denied hearing from Slater.
“I have got a long way to go in the back row to be an elite player, to get picked in those squads,” he said.
“You have got players like Tino [Fa’asuamaleaui] coming back, and Tom [Gilbert] as well. That bolsters the forward pack and limits the opportunities.
“I am trying to take it week by week, and if it happens, it happens.”
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