{"id":886730,"date":"2026-09-10T09:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886730\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:20:13","slug":"nrl-2026-tom-gilbert-returns-to-the-finals-after-brutal-injury-run-at-the-dolphins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886730\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Tom Gilbert returns to the finals after brutal injury run at the Dolphins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The long wait is almost over for the Dolphins who will play their first finals game on Saturday, with the game across the ditch to be a special one for hard man Tom Gilbert who has endured a wretched run of injuries since he joined the club. <\/p>\n

Gilbert started at lock in the Dolphins\u2019 first NRL game back in 2023, but it\u2019s been a brutal run since then with the experienced forward suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Origin that year before he tore his ACL in the trials and didn\u2019t play at all in 2024.<\/p>\n

The knee injury was in New Zealand, while he suffered a pec tear against the Warriors last year that ended his 2025 campaign after 11 rounds.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s played more games in 2026 than he has in the three previous years combined, with Saturday\u2019s qualifying final shaping up as one of the most emotional matches of his career. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best reward I\u2019ve had in this whole time is to go out and lead the boys this weekend for our first finals game,\u201d Gilbert told the NewsWire. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019ve never played a full season at the club. I haven\u2019t played a full season in four years, so for me it was always going to be a bit of a sigh of relief getting through the season and playing a full season. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me to get this chance to go play finals footy and lead the club for the first time, it\u2019s all I ever wanted since I left the Cowboys. It\u2019s a major box I\u2019ve ticked. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019m extremely proud of, and I\u2019m pretty proud it\u2019s come the hard way, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy for me as an individual, but for us as a group as well. We\u2019ve had some close calls playing finals the last couple of years, and now we\u2019ve done it, and we\u2019ve done it well. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the season\u2019s over, I think I\u2019m really going to enjoy sitting back and being proud of what we\u2019ve achieved as a club, and there\u2019ll be a time where I\u2019ll be proud of what I\u2019ve achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Queensland halfback Tom Dearden isn\u2019t used to big injuries but had to deal with the first major setback of his career when he suffered a serious syndesmosis injury that ruled him out for more than two months.<\/p>\n

While he didn\u2019t get to play in the State of Origin series, the reigning Wally Lewis Medal winner says the time off has him feeling fresh for the finals. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m only just starting my season. It\u2019s a big freshen-up, and it probably feels like round 1 or round 3 for me,\u201d he said ahead of the elimination final against Cronulla.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe body\u2019s feeling good. I\u2019ve finally got a couple of games together now after a few injuries. It\u2019s been a bit frustrating sitting on the sidelines, but I\u2019m excited to be back and it\u2019s good to be back playing some finals footy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dolphins missed the finals by two points in 2024 and 2025 thanks to late-season collapses, but they finished third this year and have already beaten the Warriors in an epic contest.<\/p>\n

The finals curse has finally been lifted, and Gilbert wants to make it count in what will be his first playoff game since 2022 when he was with Dearden at the Cowboys. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of individuals who\u2019ve been there since the start, whether you\u2019re playing footy or being in the admin side, fans, members, sponsors, it hasn\u2019t been an easy road to get here and it takes time,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think through this whole process all we\u2019ve wanted to do is have the chance to play finals. So it is finally here and people can say it\u2019s surreal and stuff, but for us, it feels like a long time coming. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot as a club in four years and to have this chance to go play finals footy, it\u2019s something that we\u2019re really excited for and something we know that we\u2019re proud of. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut also, it\u2019s one thing to be here, it\u2019s another thing to go and perform well and do something in this comp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Pretty proud it\u2019s come the hard way\u2019: Tom Gilbert proud to lead the Dolphins to maiden finals berth after dealing with brutal injury toll<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The long wait is almost over for the Dolphins who will play their first finals game on Saturday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[456185,447641,456190,456199,8288,93752,429084,456178,10968,456174,376963,456194,387745,377373,400475,450943,456189,376730,456195,456188,456196,456180,456171,424220,456186,381082,456168,172855,456201,456176,456192,417972,64,63,456204,456205,163,26958,319865,162,1635,16308,5334,456202,9116,260185,1852,153657,456193,456182,421696,379545,456211,19818,12979,45755,456198,35547,38347,240451,456207,456187,761,762,1736,456181,158,388615,16911,778,456173,1861,456169,25984,70068,355564,46907,456206,456191,445075,85,4031,383337,436119,456183,456184,437985,245970,23275,376941,382205,34775,378324,54179,443883,377514,456177,376549,74713,323676,380485,456175,456170,380371,456210,356269,383329,376950,165057,456203,376539,456197,12644,455530,456209,456200,456179,379782,456172,411934,364611,456208,6618,776,15899,412303,32388],"class_list":["post-886730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-brutal-road","tag-s-qualifying-final","tag-s-surreal","tag-11-rounds-he","tag-8288","tag-93752","tag-2024-and-2025","tag-2024-the-knee-injury","tag-10968","tag-a-big-freshen-up","tag-a-bit","tag-a-brutal-run","tag-a-club","tag-a-couple","tag-a-few-injuries","tag-a-full-season","tag-a-long-time-coming","tag-a-lot","tag-a-luckless-star","tag-a-major-box","tag-a-pec","tag-a-season-ending-shoulder-injury","tag-a-serious-syndesmosis-injury","tag-a-sigh","tag-a-special-one","tag-a-time","tag-a-wretched-run","tag-a-group","tag-an-easy-road","tag-an-epic-contest-the-finals-curse","tag-an-individual","tag-another-thing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-big-injuries","tag-brutal-injury-toll","tag-cowboys","tag-cronulla","tag-dearden","tag-dolphins","tag-fans","tag-finals","tag-finals-berth","tag-first-nrl-game","tag-footy","tag-four-years","tag-games","tag-gilbert","tag-hard-man-tom-gilbert","tag-his-2025-campaign","tag-his-acl","tag-his-career","tag-his-first-playoff-game","tag-individuals","tag-injuries","tag-last-year","tag-late-season-collapses","tag-lock","tag-members","tag-more-games","tag-more-than-two","tag-my-season","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand","tag-north-queensland-halfback-tom-dearden","tag-nrl","tag-one-thing","tag-origin","tag-origin-series","tag-our-first-finals-game","tag-people","tag-play-finals-footy","tag-relief","tag-round-1","tag-round-3","tag-saturday","tag-some-close-calls","tag-some-finals-footy","tag-sponsors","tag-sports","tag-star","tag-stuff","tag-that-year","tag-the-admin-side","tag-the-best-reward","tag-the-big-stage","tag-the-body","tag-the-boys","tag-the-chance","tag-the-club","tag-the-cowboys","tag-the-ditch","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-elimination-final","tag-the-finals","tag-the-first-major-setback","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-game","tag-the-hard-way","tag-the-last-couple","tag-the-long-wait","tag-the-most-emotional-matches","tag-the-newswire","tag-the-reigning-wally-lewis-medal-winner","tag-the-season","tag-the-sidelines","tag-the-start","tag-the-state","tag-the-three-previous-years","tag-the-time","tag-the-trials","tag-the-warriors","tag-their-finals-drought","tag-their-first-finals-game","tag-this-chance","tag-this-comp","tag-this-weekend","tag-this-whole-process","tag-this-whole-time","tag-this-year","tag-three-devastating-injuries","tag-time","tag-tom-dearden","tag-tom-gilbert","tag-two-points","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}