You would have got enormous odds a month ago that the Dolphins and Broncos would be going into Friday night’s historic clash at Suncorp Stadium undefeated and leading the competition, but no-one would have been silly enough to make the bet. Still, here we are.
It’s a bold call, but I’d go so far as to suggest that it’s the biggest club game played in Brisbane since Wayne Bennett sent the Broncos out for their first match against premiers Manly in 1988. Bennett masterminded an unforgettable win that night, and after his sacking by the Broncos four years ago, he’ll be determined to do it again on Friday. The old fox still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve at the age of 73 but it will be a couple of youngsters who will be hogging much of the spotlight.
The Dolphins’ 18-year-old five-eighth Isaiya Katoa and Broncos’ 20-year-old fullback Reece Walsh are two of the most exciting players in the game and it will be fascinating to see their careers unfold. Following Walsh’s scintillating Brisbane debut against the Cowboys, reporters were doing their best to lead coach Kevin Walters and captain Adam Reynolds into comparing him to Darren Lockyer and Greg Inglis. ‘He’s not as big as Greg,’ was as far as Reynolds would go, but stand by for hype overload as the week builds. Katoa hasn’t displayed the spark and showmanship of Walsh so far, but his link play and kicking game are becoming more assured with every outing.
That won’t have come as a surprise to anyone who saw him in action in Brisbane last year as co-captain of the Sydney private school Barker College rugby union team. Barker isn’t a GPS school, but it was so dominant in its undefeated 2022 season that it was invited to play for the Manu Sutherland Shield – the quasi-national schoolboy rugby title - against Brisbane GPS powerhouse St Joseph’s Nudgee. On Nudgee’s intimidating home ground Ross Oval in front of the entire school and hundreds of old boys and supporters – plus live TV coverage - the visitors from Hornsby weren’t given much hope, but they destroyed the Queensland heavyweights 25-nil with Katoa controlling the play like a puppeteer.
I doubt Wayne Bennett has watched a tape of that game, but I’d wager that Wallaby coach Eddie Jones has. A lifelong Rabbitohs supporter who poached league stars Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers for his 2003 Rugby World Cup side, Jones has made no secret of his desire to lure former rugby players back from the NRL for the Wallabies’ 2027 World Cup campaign. So far the names floated have included the likes of the Roosters’ Joseph Suaalii, Eels’ centre Will Penisini and Manly speedster Tolu Koula, with no mention of newcomer Katoa, but don’t think that Eddie Jones hasn’t been monitoring his progress. Jones is like Wayne Bennett, he doesn’t miss a thing. He’ll be a very interested viewer on Friday night. You can bet on it.