By Nick Wright
The luckless tale of Tom Gilbert’s NRL career has had another gut-wrenching chapter inscribed into its pages, amid fears the Dolphins skipper again faces an extended period on the sidelines.
Eager to announce himself for a comeback to Queensland’s State of Origin fold, the star forward was left clutching at his left pectoral trying to prevent Warriors rival Marata Niukore from scoring.
The 24-year-old went up the tunnel 29 minutes into his side’s 16-12 defeat to New Zealand on Saturday, and was seen in the sheds with his arm in a sling and ice applied.
Dolphins skipper Tom Gilbert cuts a dejected figure as he leaves the field against the New Zealand Warriors.Credit: NRL Photos
Gilbert was pushing to rejoin the Maroons for the first time since dislocating his shoulder in game one, 2023, which ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.
A ruptured ACL followed shortly after his return from that setback, and you can expect every rugby league fan to be holding their breath and hoping for the best for the passionate leader.
“We won’t know the severity of that until we get scans in the next day or two. He’s disappointed, but he’s a tough man – he’s handled disappointment before, and he knows how to get himself through it. He’ll do it again … [but] he’s not going to be playing in the next couple of weeks.”
Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf
While Gilbert will be unable to line up for Queensland, Felise Kaufusi did his chances of a recall no harm in running for 127 metres while making 22 tackles for no misses.
But despite his performance coming up against representative rivals Mitch Barnett and James Fisher-Harris, the veteran concedes he is unlikely to receive a call.
“I’ll never say never – I love the Origin arena, I love playing for Queensland, and there’s a lot of young, eager Queenslanders to pick from. I’ll always put my hand up to play Origin, but I think there are a lot of boys in front of me.”
Felise Kaufusi
Out of luck, outmuscled, but to the end
They may not have helped themselves at times, heading into half-time trailing the penalty count 7-2, but the Dolphins had done well to stay in the contest for much of the opening half.
That is, until a genuine shocker of a decision ultimately proved costly.
Trailing 4-0, an Isaiya Katoa bomb was dropped by the returning Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, and looked to go forward for all money – scooped up by his five-eighth, Chanel Harris-Tavita in front of where the veteran made contact.
However, referee Peter Gough ruled the ball went backwards – drawing the ire of the 32,165 Suncorp Stadium fans – and the Warriors charged down field to score through Kurt Capewell on the same set.
“You know I’m not allowed to talk about referee decisions. Everyone’s seen what happened there. Things like that certainly make it challenging, but I’d see it as we probably ran out of time in the end. We had plenty of effort, we were certainly coming home and giving ourselves a chance.”
Kristian Woolf
Meanwhile, the Bunker denied the hosts two tries through Kodi Nikorima and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow – with knock-ons deemed in the kick contest – contributing to their total 16 errors to the Warriors’ seven.
Without key forwards Max Plath (foot) and Daniel Saifiti (shoulder), along with Gilbert’s absence, the Dolphins were beaten through the middle and would have been stoked to go into half-time only down by four points.
There was some strong, desperate Dolphins’ defence at times – Katoa holding up Harris-Tavita and forcing an error, while Nikorima and Tabuai-Fidow both held up Niukore on separate occasions among the 31 tackles they were forced to make inside their own 20-metre line.
But by the break, the Kiwi outfit were dominating the battle for post-contact metres (327 to 218), and the manner in which both tries were scored simply seemed to break the Dolphins’ spirit, before their fifth-tackle options lacked too much genuine threat to the Warriors’ defence.
Late tries to Tabuai-Fidow, shortly after the Warriors had extended their lead when Jacob Laban latched onto a bomb, and Herbie Farnworth – the latter after James Fisher-Harris was sin binned for a high shot – kept the Dolphins in the hunt with two minutes on the clock.
“I’m incredibly proud of our blokes, I don’t think we played our best with the footy … but our effort and determination to keep ourselves in the game, there wasn’t a lot going our way at times. We were too ill-disciplined in the first half with some penalties, I think there were three times in the second half where we got a six-again and turned it over on play one or zero.”
Kristian Woolf
Capewell’s last-ditch Origin bid
Has Kurt Capewell just launched a last-ditch bid to garner a Queensland recall?
In terms of the back-row depth at the Maroons’ disposal, Beau Fermor, Jeremiah Nanai, Jaydn Su’A and even Reuben Cotter are the likely front-runners for the May 28 series launch.
But Capewell’s versatility to jump into centre – as demonstrated on Saturday – could be his ticket to a shock inclusion come Monday morning.
Kurt Capewell makes a tackle for the New Zealand Warriors on Dolphins winger Jack Bostock. Credit: NRL Photos
Facing off against two-time Dally M Centre of the Year Herbie Farnworth, the 31-year-old produced a brutal hit on the Englishman at one stage, while he finished with a try and 100 running metres.
He may have missed five tackles while making 23, but the nature of some of his hits – getting in Farnworth’s face, and in the contest – was impressive.
While it would take a bold move for Billy Slater to bring Capewell into his Maroons backline – Tabuai-Fidow and Valentine Holmes the short-priced favourite centre pairing – last year he showed his preference to have an outside back on his bench.
Capewell’s ability to jump into the backline, which the former has done at Origin level in the past, may eradicate that need.
“He’s been awesome wherever he’s played this year. People don’t realise he had a lot of injuries and niggles last year. He’s got himself physically in the right shape, and you see how well he plays. His leadership is unbelievable. If he played [Origin] he would kill it. He just loves the jersey, and he’s so reliable and can play everywhere.”
Warriors coach Andrew Webster
Barnett’s Origin bid complete
He has been an inspirational leader for the Warriors while James Fisher-Harris has been sidelined with a pectoral strain, and now Mitch Barnett should be considered one of the leading contenders to line up in the New South Wales front line.
The prop was the key man in establishing his side’s go-forward dominance – finishing with 160 running metres and 33 tackles to force the Dolphins into regular goal-line defence early on.
It led Warriors coach Andrew Webster to declare he would “be shocked if he’s not there” as he was “made for that arena”.
Payne Haas is perhaps the only certain selection when Blues coach Laurie Daley unveils his side, but Barnett’s durability – getting through 65 minutes of action – and no-nonsense approach looms as the perfect foil to the Bronco superstar’s brute force.
“I’d love to be back there again. Any time I’ve represented the Blues I’ve put my best foot forward, and it’s a great challenge coming up and trying to back it up for whoever is picked. A new coach is coming in, and new ideas, so it’d be a great experience if I could get a phone call.”
Mitch Barnett
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