Redcliffe Dolphins Award winners 2025

Redcliffe Dolphins players, partners and supporters have celebrated the 2025 season, which saw the club win the BRL premiership and come agonisingly close to a Grand Final berth in the Hostplus Cup.

They filled the President’s room at Redcliffe Leagues Club last night for the annual awards evening.

See the photo gallery at the end of this story.

Chairman Bob Jones said there was much to celebrate about the season, with the club again showing they are a force to be reckoned with.

“It’s always good to celebrate premiership wins and in only our second year back (in the competition) ... Dunamis and his men won in style,” Jones said.

The BRL team beat Carina 32-12 in the Grand Final following a disrupted start to the season, under first-time Head Coach and former player Dunamis Lui.

His efforts in guiding the team to the premiership win and his impact on the broader Redcliffe Dolphins club earnt him the Des Webb Memorial Award Club Person of the Year.

Lui said it was difficult to build momentum, but he’s proud of his team – the way they handled the challenge and won the competition.

And he achieved his goal for the season ...

“Apart from just having a good season, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t to win the comp,” he said.

“We got to do that in the end but even if we didn’t do that, I think I’d still be pretty proud of the boys.”

The Hostplus Cup side made it to the preliminary final but fell agonisingly short against the Burleigh Bears 18-16. The Bears went on to win the Grand Final at Kayo Stadium, defeating Norths Devils 22-8.

“Our QCup boys showed how close we were to winning the comp ... we were clearly the better side, only to fall a bit short in the last few minutes. Our Mal Meninga boys also covered themselves in glory, going down in extra time in a gripping final,” Jones said.

Hostplus Cup Head Coach Eric Smith, who is leaving the club to take up a role with the Canberra Raiders’ NRL team, said was proud of his players and staff.

“The Prelim is going to sting for a little while ... it still stings now, especially seeing what Burleigh were able to go on and do the week after,” he said.

“It just wasn’t to be on the day. Grand Finals are really hard to win and they’re even harder to get there.”

Smith said it was important players and staff reflected on all the moments and achievements throughout the season, not just on that final game.

“There are a lot of things that happen throughout a season that make it a success,” he said.

He added the last six weeks of the season were “some of the best football I’ve been involved in (Queensland Cup)”.

Dolphins Prop Josh Allen, who will play for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League next season, won the Tony Obst Players Player Award and Peter Leis Medal for Player of the Year (61 points).

The evening was also an opportunity to farewell Redcliffe Dolphins Chief Executive Scott Clark, who is heading to the Gold Coast, after three years in the top job.

Award winners

BRL Awards

Dick Tosser Turner Pathways Player of the Year - Will Boland

BRL Most Consistent - Steven Numambo

Best Forward - Jack Cullen

Best and Fairest - Thomas Casey

Try of the Year - Joshua James

Bunny Pearce Award for Highest Points Scorer - Joshua James (146 points)

Host Plus Cup Awards

Rookie of the Year - Jordan Plath

Troy Lindsay Most Consistent Player - Sheldon Pitama

Best Back - Zac Miles

Tony Obst Players Player Award - Josh Allen

Des Webb Memorial Award Club Person of the Year - Dunamis Lui

Peter Leis Medal for Player of the Year – Josh Allen (61 points)

Photo gallery

By Dominika Lis