Travelling man: New face Tawha steps in for injury-hit Phins

From Dutch rugby union to the NRL, it has been a road less travelled for Dolphins forward Aublix Tawha, who surprised no one at the club except himself in making his debut this year.

Tawha is the latest player to join a new-look Dolphins pack and has been named to come off the bench in Round 19 against the Sharks for his third game in the NRL.

Normally a second rower, Tawha made his NRL debut off the bench in Perth in Round 16 against the Knights, before backing up that effort by starting at prop against the Rabbitohs in his side’s 50-28 win at Suncorp Stadium.

“It was crazy! When Woolfy [coach Kristian Woolf] told me that I was going to debut, the whole world just zoned out, it was like a dream,” Tawha said.

“It's crazy, I never thought I would be; it’s a dream come true.

“Halfway through pre-season, I was hanging out with all the NRL boys and they were like ‘you are going to debut this year’ … all these fellows have played 200 games and all of that.

“Kenny Bromwich, I'm pretty close with him. He's helped me out heaps.

“To have guys like that telling me ‘you're going to debut this year’; and Josh Kerr, he would always tell me ‘hey, you're going to debut’ and that I'm going to be there in the NRL (was special).”

Brought to Redcliffe in 2023 by then head coach Ben Te’o (now an assistant coach with Brisbane Broncos) after seeing his highlights playing for Yass Magpies in the Canberra competition, Tawha was born in Hamilton in New Zealand and played junior football with Turangawaewae Rugby League Club, before coming to Australia the first time in 2017 for SG Ball at the Raiders.

He then headed north to play Under 20s with Tweed Seagulls, but injury saw him return home to New Zealand.

However, the half Dutch, half Māori centre-turned-forward who has also represented his mother’s birth country the Netherlands in rugby union, decided to return to Australia for “another crack” in rugby league in 2023 and was signed to a development contract last year after impressing with affiliate club Redcliffe in the Hostplus Cup.

“I was playing in a little town called Yass down in New South Wales, I played half the season there and [Te’o] saw some of my highlights and brought me up and gave me an opportunity at Redcliffe Dolphins,” Tawha said.

“This is my first season with NRL, I was just playing Queensland Cup last year (with Redcliffe Dolphins).

“That’s the highest level I had played … I looked at Cup like it was the NRL.

“Last year, Ben saw me play in a couple of games and he said ‘bro, you could potentially play NRL, so just stick at it’ and I’ve stuck at it and now I am here.”

With injuries hitting their forward stocks especially hard, with the likes of Tom Flegler, Tom Gilbert, Daniel Saifiti and Max Plath all out for the season as well as Felise Kaufusi and new signing Sebastian Su'a sidelined until Round 22, Tawha was hoping for an extended run in the side.