The Dolphins have opened their inaugural season in the NRL with three consecutive wins, blowing the top off expectations and leaving the naysayers to eat their words.
A secret weapon contributing to the Dolphins' success is the Tongan link between assistant coach Kristian Woolf and stars Felise Kaufusi, Isaiya Katoa and Tesi Niu, and how Kaufusi helped seal the deal to entice Woolf, who has coached the Tongan national side since 2014, back to Queensland after a decorated stint with English side St Helens.
In a new team there will always be friends, colleagues, mates or — in the case of the Dolphins — family members (the Bromwich brothers) who've agreed to leave the old and leap into the unknown together.
There will be lead-up texts, calls, "offline" meetings and a shared imagining of a new future. Once they arrive, there's a hit of dopamine seeing the familiar faces, pioneers together.
At the Dolphins, the Mate Ma'a Tonga connections are lighting up the team.
The Dolphins have more Samoan (seven) than Tongan (four) heritage players, but it is three Tongan representatives who are drawing attention — Kaufusi, Katoa and Niu.
The Dolphins coach who knows them best isn't Wayne Bennet. It's Woolf, who will take over from 73-year-old Bennett as coach of the Dolphins in 2025.
Woolf has redefined international rugby league
Woolf has led Tonga to victories over Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand, making them the first tier-2 nation to defeat all three of international rugby league's superpowers.
The boy from Mount Isa helped transform the tiny Pacific Island nation into a powerhouse, and he did so while working in assistant roles with the Cowboys and Broncos.
He then took the helm at St Helens, leading the team to win the 2021 and 2022 Super League grand finals.
Last week, Tesi Niu made history by scoring the first hat-trick for the Dolphins.
It was a potent reminder of the 21-year-old's performance for Tonga at last year's World Cup when he scored three tries against the Cook Islands in Tonga's third-game victory over the Kukies.
He signed with his new club in January of this year, with Woolf playing a key role, but Tonga teammates Katoa and Kaufusi both signed before Woolf.
Kaufusi in particular played a key role in bringing Woolf to the club — the duo have a long history together, dating back almost a decade.
Going against the usual coach-brings-in-player path, it was Kaufusi who helped influence Woolf's decision to join the Dolphins.
"Felise and I had a number of discussions about what I was doing, and if the Dolphins were in consideration before I had signed," said Woolf.
"When you know that there's good players involved, and good people involved — and Felise is both of those — it helps with your decision."
Woolf first coached Kaufusi in the lower grades at the North Queensland Cowboys before meeting again to represent Tonga.
Under Woolf, Kaufusi played for Tonga from 2015 to 2017 and rejoined Tonga last year after representing Queensland and Australia.
On Tuesday night it was Woolf, not Bennett, who supported Kaufusi in front of the NRL judiciary panel in Sydney.
The Dolphins coach sat beside his visibly emotional player as Kaufusi was handed a four-week-suspension for a dangerous contact charge that will rule him out of Friday night's clash with Brisbane.
Katoa had a breakout performance at last year's World Cup, which embedded confidence in the youngster's 2023 debut for the Dolphins and future in the NRL.
The 18-year-old will again line up at five-eighth for Round 4's 'Battle of Brisbane', and has consistently delivered headline plays in the first three games.
Already there are unforgettable moments like his match-winning pass against the Canberra Raiders in Round 2, but Woolf believes this is only the tip of the iceberg for Katoa.
"There's a lot more influence he's going to have on the team," Woolf said.
"It's up to us to bring that out of him but it's up to him to keep working hard to make sure he gets to those levels as well."
Katoa had already signed a three-year deal with the Dolphins at just 17 when he was first selected for Tonga's Pacific Test in June last year, but he missed out on the final squad.
"We knew Isaiya was a very talented young man. We took him into the mid-season unsure if he'd play… and that was the way it ended up, he didn't play," said Woolf.
Woolf continued to see something in Katoa, who was playing in junior rugby league for Penrith, and brought him back for the World Cup in England.
"We picked him for the first game because he gave us the confidence that he had in himself. He did that in training to the point where we thought he needed to be in the team," said Woolf.
"I thought he really grew at the World Cup. He had a bigger impact every game, and when you do that against PNG and Cook Islands, and a knock out round against Samoa -- teams full of NRL players — that's a high standard of footy.
"Everything I saw overseas said to me he was ready for the NRL."
Woolf will succeed Bennett as head coach of the Dolphins in 2025 — the same year as the next Rugby League World Cup.
When Woolf first arrived back from the UK, it was the weekend of the iconic grand final between Samoa and Australia. It was a bittersweet moment for him.
"There was couple of thousand Samoans celebrating here," Woolf said.
"It was a bit of a kick in the guts."
On one hand, it gave Woolf no doubt about the strength of Redcliffe's Polynesian community, but on the other hand, he knew it could've been Tonga.
Woolf hasn't lost the passion for Tonga, and might have another World Cup in him, but that will be a Tonga team with a difference: it will feature Dolphins connections creating magic.
