The Dolphins are currently enjoying the fruits of a mid-season lifeline thrown to enigmatic impact forward Tevita Pangai Jr, who quit the NRL to pursue a short-lived boxing career last year.
The former NSW Origin rep has found a new lease of life under Wayne Bennett, the coach who lured him from Canberra to Brisbane midway through 2016. Pangai Jr also left the Broncos for the Panthers during 2021.
As TPJ shapes as a potential missing link to revive a spluttering Dolphins campaign, we’re reliving some of the most notable and memorable midyear club switches the premiership has witnessed.
John Elias – Canterbury to Wests (1986), Easts to Balmain (1989), Balmain to South Sydney (1994)
Colourful journeyman forward John Elias made an art form of switching clubs mid-season more than a decade before it became commonplace.
Formerly with Newtown and Souths before winning a BRL premiership with Souths Magpies, Elias started 1986 with Canterbury-Bankstown but ended the year with Wests.
Elias was later dumped by Easts in 1989, only to be snapped up by Balmain, playing against the Roosters in his first match in the black-and-gold.
Balmain would become the most permanent home of a controversial career, but he departed halfway through 1994 to return to South Sydney for the remainder of the year – sensationally becoming embroiled in an alleged betting rort in the Rabbitohs’ late-season loss to the Magpies.
Rod Silva – Sydney City to Bulldogs (1995)
Despite winning back-to-back minor premierships in 1993-94, the Bulldogs had struggled to settle on a permanent fullback.
That all changed when elusive, big-stepping Easts custodian Rod Silva joined the club halfway through ’95. He had fallen out of favour with new Roosters coach Phil Gould, but after signing with Super League the 27-year-old quickly found a home at Belmore.
Silva starred in 16 straight matches as the strife-torn Bulldogs stormed to an unlikely premiership triumph, scoring a match-sealing try in the grand final upset of Manly.
He became the first player in history to win a NRL grand final after switching clubs mid-season and went on to play 100 games in the blue and white.
Graham Appo – Canberra to Adelaide (1998)
Utility-back Appo was dumped by the Raiders early in ’98 for disciplinary reasons, but proved an incredibly valuable pick-up for struggling expansion club Adelaide.
Featuring at fullback, wing and centre after making his first appearance in Round 9, Appo scored 12 tries and 116 points – both club records – in just 14 games, while he chalked up record 24-point hauls in consecutive weeks against Gold Coast and Balmain.
Appo embarked on modest stints with Sydney City and North Queensland after the Rams folded.
John Simon – Parramatta to Auckland (1999)
The linchpin of Parramatta’s finals drives in 1997-98, Simon felt out of favour with Brian Smith in 1999.
Initially denied a release, he made a belated first NRL appearance of the season against the Warriors in Round 13 – scoring a try off the bench in a 25-18 win – then was lining up for the Auckland-based outfit less than two weeks later.
Simon gave excellent service to the Warriors until the end of 2000, before finishing his career at Wests Tigers. The Warriors also snapped up hooker Robbie Mears from Canterbury midway through 1999; he went on to win the club’s Player of the Year award in 2000.
Chris Walker – South Sydney to Sydney Roosters (2003)
Electrifying three-quarter Chris Walker was a high-profile recruit for South Sydney in 2003, a six-game Queensland Origin rep boasting 40 tries from 67 games for the Broncos.
But after an unhappy start at the Rabbitohs, Walker was granted a release after just five appearances – despite having two seasons to run on his big-money contract.
Walker joined the Roosters for the remainder of 2003, scoring 10 tries in 14 games (including a try off the bench against Souths in his third game), and played in the club’s grand final loss to Penrith.
He scored a try in the Roosters’ loss to the Bulldogs in the 2004 decider, before subsequent stints with Melbourne, Gold Coast and Catalans, and an eventual return to the NRL with Parramatta in 2011.
Clint Newton – Newcastle to Melbourne (2007)
Incoming coach Brian Smith enraged Knights fans when he axed backrower Clint Newton during 2007, but it led to a career highlight for the popular clubman.
The 100-game veteran, who had debuted for Country Origin the previous season, quit Newcastle midyear and was playing for Melbourne within a fortnight.
After forging a regular second-row spot in the Storm’s pack, Newton crossed for a try in their 34-8 grand final rout of Manly, becoming just the second player win a title following a mid-season change of clubs.
The USA international joined Hull KR at the end of the year but eventually returned to Newcastle in 2014 via Penrith.
Jamie Soward – Sydney Roosters to St George Illawarra (2007)
A genuine match-winner in the halves, Soward had failed to deliver on his potential since breaking into first grade in 2005 with Sydney Roosters. The club consequently granted him a mid-season release during 2007.
Just six days after helping the Roosters to a 13-12 defeat of Cronulla, Soward kicked a decisive field goal to seal St George Illawarra’s 11-4 upset of Brisbane.
Soward quickly became the Dragons’ linchpin and key playmaker as the club claimed back-to-back minor premierships in 2009-10, before taking out a long-awaited title in the latter season.
The quicksilver No.6 kicked six goals in the 32-8 grand final defeat of the Roosters and debuted for NSW the following season, while he later enjoyed a memorable stint at Penrith, finishing with 1,280 points from 215 NRL games.
Nathan Fien – Warriors to St George Illawarra (2009)
Deemed surplus to requirements after four-and-a-half seasons and 105 games for the Warriors, half/hooker Fien was snapped up by Wayne Bennett – who had worked with the utility in the Queensland Origin and New Zealand Test teams – and the ladder-leading Dragons.
Fien cemented a bench role with the Saints and played in their ’09 finals campaign while the Warriors languished near the foot of the ladder.
The Mt Isa product fought back from a broken leg suffered in the opening round of 2010 to score a try in the Dragons’ grand final victory, eventually retiring in 2013 after 276 NRL appearances.
Mark Gasnier – Stade Français to St George Illawarra (2010)
Marqee centre Gasnier stunned the rugby league fraternity in 2008 by forgoing a certain World Cup campaign to take up a rugby union deal in France.
But after two seasons with Stade Français, Gasnier rejected overtures from the Melbourne Rebels and the ARU to rejoin the Dragons midway through 2010. He played his first game in Round 17 and was eased back into the table-topping Dragons’ side off the bench by coach Wayne Bennett.
After returning to his favoured centre spot, the 29-year-old scored the opening try of the Saints’ grand final victory over the Roosters – their long-awaited first as a joint venture. Gasnier won a NSW recall in 2011 but surprised fans again by retiring at the end of that season.
Shane Tronc – Wakefield Trinity to Brisbane (2010)
A veteran of 125 games in six seasons with North Queensland, giant front-rower Shane Tronc took up a deal with Wakefield Trinity for the 2010 Super League season. But Tronc and his wife were unable to settle into English life and he played just 11 games before returning to Australia.
Incredibly, Tronc suited up for his first game for the Broncos just 12 days after his last game for the Wildcats and only hours after flying back from England. The skilful prop quickly cemented a starting spot in Brisbane’s pack and played all 18 remaining matches of the 2010 NRL season.
Ryan Tandy – Melbourne to Canterbury (2010)
Burly prop Ryan Tandy switched clubs midway through his first season in the NRL, joining South Sydney after starting the year with St George Illawarra.
Following a stint with Wests Tigers and three matches for Ireland at the 2008 World Cup, Tandy joined Melbourne, breaking into first grade late in 2009 and coming off the bench in the club’s grand final win over Parramatta.
The premiership was stripped the following season for salary cap breaches and Tandy left for Canterbury mid-season – a mutually beneficial arrangement that allowed Melbourne to ease some cap pressure.
Tandy quickly cemented a starting front-row spot for Canterbury but became embroiled in a betting scandal late in the season, painted as the main protagonist in a plunge on the first scoring play option in a match against North Queensland.
He was arrested and charged early in 2011; despite maintaining his innocence, Tandy was stood down by the Bulldogs. A court found Tandy guilty of the fixing charges later in the year and he tragically died in 2014.
Krisnan Inu – Warriors to Canterbury (2012)
One of the NRL’s great enigmas, Inu was granted a release by the Warriors in May of 2012 – just seven months after helping the club to a grand final.
Most were sceptical when Des Hasler brought the erratic utility back to Canterbury to alleviate a backline injury crisis, but Inu produced his best season since his 2007 rookie year, scoring two tries on club debut and racking up 148 points as the Bulldogs surged to the minor premiership and grand final.
Inu barely put a foot wrong at centre, scoring or setting up numerous freakish tries and slotting match-winning field goals, before earning a Kiwis Test recall after a four-year absence. He slipped back into his inconsistent ways during a suspension-marred follow-up campaign and was let go during 2014.
Sam Perrett – Sydney Roosters to Canterbury (2012)
The Roosters reluctantly released New Zealand Test winger Perrett after 16 rounds of the 2012 NRL season, allowing him to join the Bulldogs, who were reeling from season-ending injuries to Steve Turner and Bryson Goodwin.
The ever-reliable Perrett slotted seamlessly onto the Canterbury flank, featuring in the minor premiers’ last 12 games.
He bagged a double in the preliminary final defeat of Souths before scoring the Bulldogs’ only try in the grand final loss to Melbourne and went on to feature at fullback in the club’s defeat to Souths in the 2014 decider.
Benji Marshall – Blues Super Rugby to St George Illawarra (2014)
After an acrimonious split with Wests Tigers at the end of 2013, Marshall embarked on one of the least fruitful rugby union switches of all time with the Auckland-based Blues.
The playmaking wizard was back in the NRL by Round 10 of the 2014 season with St George Illawarra and spent three years with the club, finishing equal-second in the 2015 Dally M Medal count. Marshall went on to have colourful stints with the Broncos, back at the Tigers and with the Rabbitohs.
Konrad Hurrell (Warriors), Nathan Peats (Parramatta) & Jarryd Hayne (NFL/Rugby Sevens) – all to Gold Coast (2016)
The Titans’ surge to their first NRL finals appearance in six years in 2016 was underpinned by a trio of crucial mid-season arrivals.
The Warriors’ patience with enigmatic centre wrecking ball Konrad Hurrell wore out, but he added much-needed punch to the Gold Coast backline. Meanwhile, Parramatta – needing to shed players amid a salary cap scandal – allowed blossoming hooker Nathan Peats to join the Titans.
Code-hopping dual Dally M Medal winner Jarryd Hayne also proved a key addition, stepping up as a game-breaking match-winner for the overachieving Titans.
Junior Paulo – Parramatta to Canberra (2016)
Intimidating Eels front-rower Paulo signed a contract with the Raiders in early-2016 to begin in 2017, but Parramatta’s salary cap fiasco exacerbated the move.
Paulo moved to the capital in June, helped the burgeoning Raiders to nine wins in his first 10 games and featured in all three of their finals matches.
Kodi Nikorima – Brisbane to Warriors (2019), Warriors to South Sydney (2022)
Kiwi Test half Nikorima played 86 games for the Broncos before being parachuted in to help solve the halves conundrum at the Warriors – who had punted linchpin Shaun Johnson in the off-season – midway through 2019.
Nikorima had his moments during three years with the Warriors (he was one of their best during the trials and tribulations of the COVID-hit 2020 season) but found himself surplus to requirements following Johnson’s return in 2022.
The utility left for high-flying Souths midyear and plugged a gap that saw him feature in three finals matches. He signed on as a foundation player at the Dolphins under Wayne Bennett, his coach with the Broncos and Rabbitohs.
Warriors loan players (2020)
The stranded Warriors became the face of the NRL’s headlong navigation of the pandemic in 2020, forced to battle on far from home with a host of players opting out of the campaign and returning to New Zealand.
Short on troops, the Warriors benefited from the services of Roosters forward Poasa Faamausili (four games), Panthers firebrand Jack Hetherington, and Eels duo Daniel Alvaro and George Jennings (all six games), who played significant roles in the club’s rousing late-season revival, on loan deals.
The quartet consequently holds a small but cherished place in the Warriors’ history. Manly’s Albert Hopoate was also loaned to the Warriors but did not don the jersey.
Matt Lodge – Brisbane to Warriors (2021), Warriors to Sydney Roosters (2022), Sydney Roosters to Manly (2023)
Controversial prop Lodge broke new ground by making mid-season moves in three consecutive seasons.
A four-year stay with the Broncos ended during 2021, taking up a deal with the embattled Warriors. He was one of the Warriors’ best players but left abruptly during 2022 after an infamous pub bust-up with owner Mark Robinson.
Lodge spent the rest of the year with the Roosters – making a finals appearance – but wore out his welcome at Bondi Junction and linked with his one-time Broncos coach, Anthony Seibold, at Manly halfway through 2023.