Dolphins not done yet: Farnworth has bigger fish to fry

By Joel Gould

After one of the great displays by a centre in an NRL final, Dolphins’ dynamo Herbie Farnworth has turned his attention towards a higher goal.

The England international was the catalyst for a stunning 26-16 qualifying win over the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

With the Dolphins trailing 16-8 in front of a sell-out crowd, Farnworth sliced through to score with a typically dynamic weaving run and then linked with star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow in a 90m raid for the “Hammer” to give the visitors the lead.

Farnworth had also earlier provided winger Selwyn Cobbo with the opening try after a silky tip-on.

Farnworth’s match statistics of 274m, two try assists, two line breaks, 11 tackle busts and two offloads tell a story.

The most elusive man in the NRL was emphatic when asked after the game if the Dolphins can win the premiership.

“We definitely can. One hundred per cent we can,” Farnworth told AAP in the sheds.

“We have a pretty special group here. You can see how the boys will always dig deep. Things didn’t go our way tonight but we are never beaten.

“It is massive for us to be in a prelim. This is my second time in finals and hopefully we can push on into the grand final and win it. That is why we play the game and all I wanted to do when I grew up as a kid.”

Farnworth reached the grand final with Brisbane in 2023 only to lose to Penrith.

The Dolphins will host a preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium in a fortnight after a seventh comeback win of the season after trailing by 10-0 or worse.

Facing an eight-point deficit with 20 minutes left, Farnworth went into overdrive. The Dolphins had faced the adversity after just 10 minutes of losing prop Thomas Flegler to concussion and being caned in the penalty and ruck infringement count.

“I felt like it was a good time for me to go after the game after our middles had done wonderfully well to hang in there,” Farnworth said.

“I knew I had to put my hand up in attack. I had some great inside service from Isaiya Katoa and Kodi Nikorima, two of the best halves in the game.

“Kurt Donoghoe is another, tough as nails but such a silky ball player. He could easily play seven for the club.”

Katoa said Farnworth was basically demanding the ball and willing the team to victory in one of his greatest displays.

“It probably goes unnoticed but Herbie is one of the best communicators and one of the loudest on the field,” Katoa told AAP.

“He is doing that day-in and day-out at training and the calibre of player he is you just need to get him the ball. One thing that the people around him do so well is organise that shape, especially Kodi.

“When you give someone like Herbie space and time he is going to make people miss tackles and do something special.”

Katoa said he was proud of a special team effort with Farnworth a shining light.

“Herbie is a special talent. He is so important to our team,” Katoa said.

“One thing he does really well is he doesn’t take all the credit. He is the first to congratulate all the boys.”

The Dolphins are the last remaining Queensland team in the competition after the Cowboys lost last night’s other finals match to Cronulla.