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Dolphins walking wounded as hurdles hit Origin stars
Joel Gould, AAP •  July 14th, 2026 2:30 pm
Dolphins utility Max Plath sustained an ankle injury against Cronulla. (HANDOUT/NRL
The Dolphins are the walking wounded ahead of their clash with North Queensland and still hurting after their dire showing against Cronulla.
The 66-0 loss to the Sharks in front of the Redcliffe faithful on Saturday afternoon was a low point in the club's history.
Can they bounce back from it on Sunday against the Cowboys, as they did after copping a 52-18 thrashing from Manly in round five?
The next month of footy will tell the tale.
The makeup of the seventh-placed team that runs out against the Cowboys is in flux due to injuries.
State of Origin trio Max Plath (ankle), Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (foot) and Jack Bostock (concussion protocols) trained on their own on Tuesday, as did outside back Jake Averillo (ribs).
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is battling a foot injury ahead of the Dolphins' clash with North Queensland | Photo: Darren England/AAP
Averillo is considered the least likely to line up against the Cowboys while the star trio are hopeful.
"Me personally, I'd give them right up until the game," Dolphins prop Felise Kaufusi said.
"If they are ready to play they will play. There is a lot of disruption with training so hopefully we have them back Thursday, if not captain's run."
Plath picked up his injury against the Sharks while Tabuai-Fidow's foot complaint occurred in the Origin decider.
Tough forward Ray Stone (shoulder) missed the Sharks massacre and also trained mostly on his own while co-captain and half Isaiya Katoa (broken wrist) is targeting a return for the round-22 clash with St George Illawarra.
Felise Kaufusi is confident the Dolphins will bounce back from their 66-0 thrashing | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
After being thrashed by the Sea Eagles, the Dolphins lost by one point to Penrith and two points to the Warriors before going on an eight-game winning streak. They then lost 13-12 away to Newcastle before falling in a heap against the Sharks.
"Embarrassing would be an understatement. It has been a tough couple of days," Kaufusi said.
"We have had our reviews and looked at where we need to improve this weekend.
"Naturally there's been a bit of soul searching but we have been in the same position before.
"We got thumped by Manly earlier on in the year and went on a run after that. We have been there before.
"We know what we are capable of and we have got too much of a quality team to go backwards from here. I reckon we will be right."
The Sharks display came right out of the blue after the Dolphins had been gritty defensively for three months.
"We were all pretty ordinary, myself included," Kaufusi said.
"With a result like that I don't think anyone expected to see it and especially playing at home in front of our fans. The great thing about rugby league is that we can go back out there.
"Talk is cheap but we work hard behind the scenes and will try and make up for it this weekend."
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