{"id":600205,"date":"2026-09-14T16:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600205\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:02:13","slug":"dolphins-set-to-extend-young-outside-back-before-open-market-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600205\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins set to extend young outside back before open market test"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dolphins<\/a> have locked in winger Tevita Naufahu<\/a> on a two-year extension, keeping him at the club until the end of 2028.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0News Corps,\u00a0Naufahu has impressed the Dolphins<\/a> with his game time this year and earned himself a further stay at the club.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old was one of the many players allowed to negotiate with rival clubs from November 1, and it is understood that clubs were interested in his signature.<\/p>\n

Naufahu debuted for the Dolphins<\/a> at the back end of the 2025 season, playing seven games and has since appeared in eight games this year, scoring three tries.<\/p>\n

With current Dolphins<\/a> winger J<\/a>amayne Isaako<\/a> leaving the club and joining the Melbourne Storm<\/a> next season, it is expected that Naufahu will slot into that starting position during 2027.<\/p>\n

A potential shift to the centres is also likely, considering both Herbie Farnworth<\/a> and Jack Bostock<\/a> are eyeing the open market themselves.<\/p>\n

Bostock has gained interest from both the Parramatta Eels<\/a> and his junior club, the St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This comes after a memorable year for the outside back, debuting for New South Wales in the game-three decider victory over Queensland. If the\u00a0Dolphins<\/a> wish to retain Bostock, they will be attempting to match higher-end offers.<\/p>\n

It is understood that star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow<\/a> is looking for a pay increase for his next contract to around $1.4 million per year, leaving the Dolphins<\/a> with serious salary cap decisions to be made.<\/p>\n

Kulikefu Finefeuiaki<\/a>, Thomas Flegler<\/a>, Connelly Lemuelu<\/a> and Selwyn Cobbo<\/a> are all off-contract beyond 2027 and can be expected to test their value on the open market.<\/p>\n

These players have been integral to the Dolphins’ run this year, and not to mention that Finefeuiaki, Flegler and Cobbo are all origin representatives for Queensland. It would be crucial for the club to attempt to retain them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dolphins have locked in winger Tevita Naufahu on a two-year extension, keeping him at the club until…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-600205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}