Hammer primed for more ‘Bermuda Triangle’ magic

By JOEL GOULD

Dolphins First Nations fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scored one of the great individual tries to beat Cronulla in 2024 and he’s keen to replicate the feat.

The ‘Triangle’, otherwise known as Ocean Protect Stadium, was the scene of the Dolphins fullback’s incredible 100m try that won the 2024 clash with hosts Cronulla.

The Dolphins return to the scene of that extraordinary act of evasion on Saturday evening.

Tabuai-Fidow took the ball on his own tryline and disappeared into the distance, beating eight attempted Sharks tackles to score.

The 24-year-old was the match winner in Sunday’s 18-14 win over Gold Coast with a 60m run to set up a try and then a brilliant score of his own when he caught an Isaiya Katoa bomb and streaked over.

Razzle-dazzle football

He ran for an incredible 325m in a stunning display of razzle-dazzle football.

The Queensland flyer now has 54 tries in 59 games for the Dolphins and 75 overall in 109 NRL matches.

His Cronulla effort is on the podium of the modest No.1’s all-time favourites.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is congratulated after his match winner against the Titans. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

“It’s obviously a special one, it’s top three for me that try,” he said.

“Just finding space and getting in the clear, I’m sort of used to that. To get the try in the end, I had to beat a couple of players and I’d say it was a pretty lucky try, but it’s one of my top three tries.”

Tabuai-Fidow has a trick where he slows down as a defender approaches and then hits the after burners like the Road Runner eluding Wily E. Coyote in the Loony Tunes cartoon.

Opposite fullback Will Kennedy was left in his wake when Tabuai-Fidow did exactly that in 2024.

“It sort of catches them by surprise when I do that,” Tabuai-Fidow grinned.

“It stops them and I just kept going again, so it’s probably a skill I guess.”

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow want to repeat that  2024 effort this weekend. (Mark Evans/AAP PHOTOS)

Tabuai-Fidow is a confidence player and is buoyant right now. The Dolphins were poor in attack for 50 minutes against the Titans and there’s plenty of room for improvement.

“Just getting early touches and getting that feel for the game, I think that’s a big thing for myself,” he said.

“We just need to work on those hard bits of the game and once we get into that groove, then we can start throwing the footy around.”

Phil Gould came up with the Bermuda Triangle tag for Shark Park because the form of visiting teams disappears when they play at the suburban ground, but Tabuai-Fidow is optimistic.

“It’s a hostile place and to get that win there (in 2024) and for us going down next week … we need to build on it and it’ll be a pretty special game,” Tabuai-Fidow said.

AAP