Battle of Brisbane part 2: The 13 reasons Broncos and Dolphins hate each other
Whether you call it the River City Rumble or the Battle of Brisbane one thing is for sure – when the Broncos and the Dolphins face off on Saturday, sparks will fly.
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Whether you call it the River City Rumble or the Battle of Brisbane one thing is for sure – when the Broncos and the Dolphins face off on Saturday night sparks will fly.
Here are 13 reasons the two sides hate each other.
1 Wayne Bennett
The Dolphins’ first point of business in their expansion vision was to lock in Wayne Bennett as their inaugural coach.
Bennett spent 25 years at the Broncos over two stints, but the 73-year-old was terminated in acrimonious circumstances in 2018.
The signing of Bennett added instant spite to the Battle of Brisbane well before a ball was ever kicked.
2 On-field bad blood
The first derby between the pair in Round 4 at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium drew a crowd of 51,047 for what was a Dolphins home game.
The new boys looked like they were going to score a monumental upset when they hit the lead 12-8 with 15 minutes to go.
But a try to Kurt Capewell and then a sizzling 100m effort from Kotoni Staggs broke Dolphins’ hearts — and their unbeaten start to the season — as Brisbane prevailed 18-12.
3 Dobbers
The Broncos accused the Dolphins of attempting to coax two of their best young players in Karl Oloapu and Deine Mariner out of contracts – a practice prohibited under the NRL’s recruitment rules.
Oloapu and Mariner formally requested releases last year, which were denied, after being tempted by moves to the cashed-up Dolphins.
Mariner remains contracted to the Broncos until the end of 2024, however they eventually gave in to Oloapu’s request for a release after Canterbury paid an exorbitant transfer fee for the schoolboys sensation in January.
The NRL has not taken action regarding Oloapu, but a spokesman said the Mariner matter had not been finalised.
4 Oloapu block play
The Broncos were reluctant to lose rising star Karl Oloapu, but when they finally relented, they made sure it wouldn’t be to the Dolphins.
Despite being a Redcliffe junior, Brisbane decreed that he couldn’t leave Red Hill to head north to the Dolphins, frustrating the NRL’s newest franchise as they watched Canterbury pay a $500,000 transfer fee to secure his signature.
5 Benny v Kevvie
Kevin Walters and Wayne Bennett share a 35-year history that began as a player-coach relationship and delivered the Broncos five grand final wins.
After his playing career, Walters joined Bennett’s coaching staff as an assistant but was sacked at the end of the 2005 season, saying he was “clearly not a yes man”.
His termination sent Walters on a life-shaping coaching odyssey that took him from France and Ipswich to Melbourne and Newcastle before a sliding doors moment gloriously swung open for him to ascend the Bennett throne at Red Hill.
Now the pair are in charge of Brisbane’s two NRL teams, providing a script you couldn’t write, and a promoter’s dream.
6 Initial surge
Seven members of the Dolphins’ inaugural NRL squad have spent time at the Broncos. Anthony Milford, Jamayne Isaako, Brenko Lee, Tesi Niu, Kodi Nikorima, Herman Ese’ese and Jarrod Wallace.
7. Poaching war rages on
Wayne Bennett landed a one-two poaching punch on the Broncos last month as the Dolphins super coach added Tom Flegler and Herbie Farnworth to their roster for next season.
International centre Farnworth has signed until the end of 2026, while Origin forward Flegler will be a Dolphin for four years.
8. The name game
While they came in as the Dolphins to broaden their reach, Brisbane have seemingly been deliberate in putting Wayne Bennett’s team in its place by referring to them as Redcliffe in the build-up to the Battle of Brisbane.
“It’s great for the rivalry. It’s Redcliffe versus Brisbane. With Wayne there it sets up a great rivalry going forward,” Broncos chairman Karl Morris said before the first derby between the sides.
“History shows when you have two teams in proximity, it usually benefits both.
“We are Brisbane. They are Redcliffe. We will continue to be the strong brand in Brisbane.”
9 Unhappy bedfellows
NRL newcomers the Dolphins play eight games at Suncorp this year, but only three at their spiritual home at Redcliffe, the 10,000-seat capacity Kayo Stadium.
The Broncos aren’t happy about sharing their home-ground with the Dolphins and Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh fired a subtle salvo at their city rivals earlier this season, pointing to the hallowed Suncorp Stadium turf and folding his arms defiantly after scoring a try against the Dragons.
The Broncos have been the only show in town since the demise of the South Queensland Crushers.
Since 2007, the Gold Coast have been down the M1, doing their best and poaching the occasional Bronco, without really impacting Brisbane’s nursery, their commercial interests or their territory, while still giving the NRL a southeast Queensland derby.
Now, the Dolphins are right on their doorstep, just 40km up the road from the Broncos’ Red Hill base at Redcliffe, ready to eat into Brisbane’s market share.
10 Staff moves
The Dolphins’ off-field recruitment drive ahead of their NRL launch led them to Red Hill, where they raided the Broncos for the bulk of their staff.
Inaugural coach Bennett spent 25 years at the Broncos across two different stints, foundation CEO Terry Reader had a decade at Red Hill and recruited at least 11 people with links to the Broncos – on and off the field.
Ex-Broncos staffers Damien McDowell (COO), Shirley Moro (finance), Trad McLean (media), Tristan Croll (digital) and Katie Croll (events) are in the Dolphins’ front office, while development coach Kurt Richards and academy fitness coach Anthony Wood have joined Bennett’s staff, and David Stagg is spearheading a new Redcliffe-based NRL Academy.
There was talk of the Dolphins making an unthinkable move to poach the Broncos’ favourite son, Allan Langer, but Bennett backtracked on operation Alfie when approached about it.
11 Membership turf war
The Dolphins’ membership has raced to 25,000, with around 10,000 of those from the Broncos’ backyard in inner-city Brisbane, sparking a turf war.
“Forty per cent of our members live within a 15-kilometre radius of the Brisbane CBD and 40 per cent live within a 15 kilometre radius of Redcliffe,’’ Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said.
“We have five per cent on the Sunshine Coast and the rest are scattered around Queensland and Australia. We could not have asked for a better start.”
The presence of the Dolphins has spurred Broncos fans into action and their membership is also rising.
“For us, there is still only one team in Brisbane,’’ Broncos boss Dave Donaghy said.
“There is only team with Brisbane in their name and we need to ensure we focus on us and we will continue to do that.
“We have tipped over 35,000 members before the first opening game and that’s the first time we have done that in the history of the club.
“We are well on the way to 40,000 and for us as a club there is zero complacency, whether it’s the Dolphins, Titans or Cowboys.”
12 Fight spills into Caxton Street
One watering hole on Brisbane’s famed Caxton Street has already shown its colours, and they’re red and white in a deliberate ploy to attract supporters of the NRL’s newest team. The Lord Alfred Hotel has pledged its loyalty to the Dolphins.
“We’re definitely the Dolphins’ supporters home base here on Caxton St,” Lord Alfred venue manager Tim Vickers said.
The Lord Alfred was the scene of the Dolphins’ hijacking of Magic Round last year, when the franchise the ambushed Broncos advertising.
The Dolphins took out advertising on the upper tier of the pub, situated near Suncorp Stadium, with a large red banner declaring: “Hey, Magic Round, see you next year.”
The Lord Alfred and the Dolphins were at it again in the lead-up to the first Battle of Brisbane, hanging a giant sign that read “Home of the Dolphins supporters”, right next to a Broncos advertisement on a street pole that declared “Together we are unbreakable”.
However, the iconic Caxton Hotel has made it clear it will remain steadfast in support of the Broncos.
“My family who own the pub, we’ve been really good family friends with ‘Kevvie’ (Broncos coach Kevin Walters) and ‘Alfie’ (Allan Langer) and all the Broncos, so it just seems so natural that we align ourselves with them and the Broncos,” venue manager Stirling Farquhar said.
13 Bringing the hate
The Dolphins came into the NRL with a well-established supporter base. But they also brought a chorus of haters.
Redcliffe is the team everyone loves to hate in Queensland rugby league circles.
In the second-tier Queensland Cup, the Dolphins are seen as the rich bully boys, who buy premierships with their $100 million leagues club. Most diehard Brisbane State League fans see them as Queensland’s version of the NRL’s silvertails, the Manly Sea Eagles. If you don’t follow them, you’re against them.
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