Photos: 2024 Redcliffe Dolphins Awards winners
Redcliffe Dolphins fan favourite Trai Fuller won the top gong at the club’s awards dinner last night.
The star fullback, renowned for his fearless and electric style of play, was named the club’s Peter Leis Player of the Year Medallist, and Tony Obst Players’ Player, at the event held at Redcliffe Leagues Club.
See the full list of winners + photo gallery at the end of this story
It comes off the back of Fuller’s breakthrough year with the NRL side, playing 11 games and placing third in the club’s count for NRL Player of the Year.
Fuller, who suffered an ACL injury to his knee during Redcliffe’s grand final-qualifying win over Northern Pride and had surgery earlier this week, was not there to accept the awards but earnt high praise from those who were.
Chairman Bob Jones paid tribute to Trai Fuller, whom he described as ‘one of his favourite sons’.
“It took him a little while to work it out but to see him establish himself as a genuine NRL player and excel is one of the best stories you could see in rugby league,” Jones said.
“Everyone’s been telling him all his life; he’s too small to play QCup, too small to play NRL ... what’s he’s done has been fantastic. It hasn’t daunted him one bit.”
Jones said Fuller was inspiring young players, including a group of 16-year-old boys from Gordonvale at the Murri Carnival on Thursday who were asking him if the popular fullback was OK.
“I found that amazing from boys from way up north ... he’s an inspiration,” Jones said.
Hostplus Cup (QCup) coach Ben Te’o said every time he received a phone call from Wayne Bennett saying he’s going to take his fullback, he knew it was going to be a tough week for his team.
Te’o said Fuller did not have to agree to play for the Redcliffe Dolphins against the Pride, because the NRL season had finished, but he didn’t hesitate.
“When I saw him go down with that knee injury, I was devastated. I think we should all remember the sacrifice that he made for us and that he always wanted to come back and play for the Redcliffe Dolphins,” he said.
Night to celebrate
The awards night was a chance to celebrate the seasons of the club’s QCup and BRL teams, with the QCup side making the grand final and the BRL side finishing second on the ladder.
“What an exciting year it has been ... another (QCup) grand final appearance ... doing it the hard way, having to beat the Pride (the competition favourites) in Cairns where we haven’t won too often in the past. What an epic battle it was,” Jones said.
“Prevail we did, against the odds, losing our pocket dynamo and big Jarrett Bolland along the way ... a great playing and coaching effort. Well done Max and the boys.”
He said it was a thrill to have a team back in the BRL this year.
BRL team coach Chris Little said there was a one-squad mentality at the club, which had been beneficial to his team.
“We did pretty much everything they (the QCup team) did. They boys benefited from that – being in the gym with the QCup boys and saw the direct pathway for them. We shared the field and they got the best out of each other,” Little said.
Eight boys moved up from Mal Meninga Cup into the BRL competition, and six made their QCup debuts.
Redcliffe Dolphins CEO Scott Clark said the club received notification it had been granted entry into the BRL competition on October 19 last year and had to move quickly to make it happen.
“To put a team together in such a short period of time and enable these guys to gel so quickly is a credit to Chris and the staff. They did a wonderful job,” Clark said.
Te’o praised the QCup and BRL players for their effort this season, with 20 players making their QCup debuts this season.
“We all went through a lot of adversity this year with player numbers ... at time we were down on troops but we always fought pretty hard. The footy gods were probably not with us this finals series and we lost probably too many players,” he said.
Farewelling Wattsy
The awards evening was also a chance to farewell long-time player Nathan Watts, 28, who started as a junior with the club and is now retiring.
He debuted with the QCup side in 2017, has since made 109 appearances and was the last remaining player from the 2018 premiership team.
The Dolphins’ Michael Casablanca presented Watts with his retirement jersey:
“Seeing this young man come to this club as a young fella ... I’ve seen him make grade, I’ve seen him win a comp, seen him lose a comp unfortunately and then seen him make 100 games,” Casablanca said.
“The thing about Wattsy for me though ... what an incredible, fantastic young man he is. He’s a true Redcliffe man, he’ll always be a Dolphin. It’s not about the 100 games you played, it’s about what you’ve done along the journey.”
Watts said: “I appreciate the club. I love the club ... all the relationships along the way.
“We won a comp in 2018, but I feel this year ... even though we lost it, I still look fondly on it, just as fondly (as 2018).”
Award winners
BRL Pathways Player of the Year: Marcus Spence
BRL Best Back: Thomas Casey
BRL Most Consistent: Michael McGrath
BRL Best and Fairest: Tauaalo Vaipulu
Try of the Year: Michael McGrath
Hit of the Year: Jaron Purcell
Ian Pearce Memorial Award: Brenton Baira
Rookie of the Year: Latrell Siegwalt
Troy Lindsay Most Consistent Player: Will Dobson
Best Forward: Max Bailey
Tony Obst Players’ Player: Trai Fuller
Des Webb Memorial Award Club Person of the Year: Kevin Kehl
Peter Leis Medal for Player of the Year: Trai Fuller
Photo gallery: Award presentations
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By Dominika Lis