How a 275-game Lions great became a secret weapon for Dolphins

Daniel Rich lined up against some of the best athletes in Australia during his near-300 games in the AFL.

But he declares he has rarely witnessed a talent like Isaiya Katoa, the man lauded as rugby league’s next great halfback.

“He’s obviously a student of the game, but at the same time, he’s one of the most rounded people and elite athletes I’ve met,” Rich said.

His surprising relationship with Katoa has become a key weapon in the Dolphins’ premiership ambitions.

Former Brisbane Lions star Rich has been a regular at the Redcliffe training grounds since the Dolphins launched in 2023, where he has become a key mentor to the kickers and embraced the challenge of being involved in a rival code.

A Western Australia product who arrived at the Lions in 2008, Rich concedes he had previously only watched State of Origin “and the odd game here and there” before falling in love with the NRL upon his move to rugby league heartland.

It took him to work closely with Queensland Maroons champion Tom Dearden during the latter’s time with the Brisbane Broncos after an invitation from the club’s former assistant, and current Dolphins’ academy coach, Kurt Richards.

Richards threw Rich’s name up to join the Dolphins each week to guide the kickers, and through his work with Katoa, they hope to shock the rugby league landscape and claim a maiden title in their first finals series.

“[Katoa] knows where he’s from, he knows his family and culture and has so much respect for fans and other staff and players, Rich said.

“He’s constantly looking to improve, and he knows he’s still got a fair bit of ceiling in front of him.

“But his mindset and personality and persona and what he’s like as a human is probably what stands out to me.”

Across the past three seasons, Katoa has featured among the league’s top three for most kicks, with his 30,308 kick metres the most across the competition in that time.

But in 2026, the 22-year-old has added to his arsenal.

Katoa’s well-weighted midfield bombs have unleashed Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Jack Bostock throughout the season, while his delicate chip kick for Connelly Lemuelu against the Broncos was a sign of his growing weaponry.

So key has the co-captain become to his side’s cause, he has not lost a game since round eight – against the Warriors side he will face in Saturday’s qualifying final – having missed the losses to the Sharks and Knights with an arm injury.

Katoa said the main takeaway Rich had given him was the importance of a momentum into a kick – “his biggest thing is momentum can save a pretty bad kick”, he says – and from there it had become about making the right call on which option to take.

Momentum behind a kick was multi-faceted, Rich stressed – it “irons out if you slightly kick it off the inside of your foot, or your ball drop is slightly off”, and encouraged a halfback to get involved in the kick chase given they were already on the front foot.

Rich said he and Katoa were constantly working on developing “a few things in the kit bag” to be brought out when the time was right, but the focus had remained largely on building a process.

“The elite kickers in the game are pretty consistent in what they do, so you’re not trying to win the game with every kick,” he said.

“It’s often an arm wrestle with the kick game and helping the team build off the back of it.

“We don’t try to reinvent the wheel, it’s just about making it consistent where he lands it, what options he takes, and then to give his outside backs a chance to score when needed.

“It’s been about creating that consistency, and he’s been unreal buying into it. He’s probably the first one to know what he’s done wrong.”

Against a Warriors side that boasts the best set completion rate in the competition, at 82 per cent, Katoa’s kicking game will be pivotal to keep the New Zealand team pinned in their own end.

Rich was adamant Katoa and his teammates were braced for the challenge.

“As a small little piece of the puzzle, I’m pretty proud of not only the boys but the coaching staff to be able to watch them embark on, hopefully, the next month of footy,” he said.

“It’s the toughest part of the year, but I think they’re pretty prepared to do what we all want to see the boys do.”

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Nick Wright covers sport for Brisbane Times.AdvertisementAdvertisement