Rich reward for Finefeuiaki with call up to Queensland camp

The 21-year-old, who has 47 NRL games to his name after moving from North Queensland Cowboys, said being one step closer to realising his dream of playing for the Maroons was mind-blowing to him.

“Never thought I would make it this far,” Finefeuiaki said, despite playing for the Queensland Under 19 side in 2022.

“My younger self had no idea I’d become what I am now.

“Every time Origin was on and I’d see Greg Inglis, the way he was, the aggression and beating the whole Blues team… I always watch his highlights and think ‘what a freak’…  so I try to be like him but I can’t. Not yet.  

“Playing for the Maroons would mean the world.

“We moved over from New Zealand when I was 11 straight to Redbank, which is home for us so to represent our state and represent the people of the 43 (a nod to the Redbank Plains postcode of 4301) would truly mean the world to me.

“My mum, she started crying, she was a bit emotional … nearly made me cry too… I know that she's proud of me.

“Told the news to my dad and he got pretty emotional too. They’re a big part of what I’ve accomplished so far, so it’s a massive accomplishment for them too.”

Finefeuiaki has returned to the Dolphins to play in their Round 12 match against the Bulldogs, with coach Kristian Woolf saying he was happy for him to earn the valuable experience of being in Origin camp.

“Really happy for him actually, it's a great reward,” Woolf said.

"Kuli came here for a bit more opportunity than what he was getting, and he's certainly got that this year.

"He's developed into a an 80 minute back rower and what I like about Cooley, you can see all that athletic ability that he's got, he's worked really hard to become an 80 minute back rower.

“He's worked really hard to improve his game, and I'm really happy that he's getting that reward at the moment and I'm very confident too that he sees that as a reason for the hard work that he's done and he'll keep doing that hard work to keep getting better.

"The fact that he's been included in the 20 says that he's pretty close and says that they see him as a Queensland player of the future.

"I know Billy's a very smart person, a very smart coach, he's doing it for a reason.”

Finefeuiaki’s Dolphins teammate Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was also selected to once again line up in the centres for the Maroons and was similarly pleased to see him come into camp, and shared some advice to make the most of his experience.

“I'm very happy for him, he told me before that he wasn't expecting the call and I just said to him, ‘you're here for a reason’ and just to be in this camp, even outside the 17, you do learn a lot,” Tabuai-Fidow said.

“I think that's a big one for him; just the learnings throughout the week and to just learn off each other as well.

“I'm super stoked for him and I know he's happy to be here too.”

The Dolphins were likely to have had another player in Queensland camp in skipper Tom Gilbert, who had been in fine form since coming back from an ACL injury suffered during the pre-season last year.

“He's in a pretty good head space now, with the people around him,” Tabuai-Fidow said.

“We've all reached out to him and it's obviously sad, especially a player like him who works so hard and so good at it too.

“It's pretty sad, but we're all in his corner and just supporting him too.”

The Dolphins have since received some positive news, with Gilbert’s injury – although long-term – , with a possible return date of Round 24.