The Brisbane Broncos and the Dolphins have met eight times since the Dolphins joined the NRL in 2023. The clubs call it the Battle for Brisbane. This page sets out the head-to-head record, every meeting, the Battle Medal and the trends so far, then looks back at the first Battle for Brisbane, against the South Queensland Crushers in the 1990s, and at where the Dolphins come from.
Figures are complete to the most recent meeting: Dolphins 40–32 Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on 8 August 2026.
All-time record
Brisbane lead the series 6 to 2, with no draws, and on points 192 to 174. They won the first three meetings, in 2023 and April 2024. The Dolphins’ first win, 40–6 in August 2024, is still the biggest margin in the fixture. Brisbane then won three in a row again before the Dolphins won the most recent meeting, coming from 24–0 down to win 40–32.
Season by season
The clubs meet twice a season. Brisbane won both meetings in 2023 and 2025, and the seasons in between were shared. Both Dolphins wins have come in the second meeting of the season, in August, with their finals hopes at stake.
| Season | Played | Brisbane wins | Dolphins wins | Brisbane points | Dolphins points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 28 |
| 2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 54 |
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 58 | 40 |
| 2026 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 58 | 52 |
| Total | 8 | 6 | 2 | 192 | 174 |
Every meeting
Every meeting has been played in Brisbane, all but one at Suncorp Stadium, which both clubs use as their main home ground.
| Date | Round | Result | Venue | Crowd | Battle Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Mar 2023 | Round 4 | Dolphins 12–18 Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 51,047 | Payne Haas (Brisbane) |
| 1 Jul 2023 | Round 18 | Brisbane 24–16 Dolphins | The Gabba | 30,606 | Selwyn Cobbo (Brisbane) |
| 12 Apr 2024 | Round 6 | Brisbane 28–14 Dolphins | Suncorp Stadium | 46,224 | Selwyn Cobbo (Brisbane) |
| 31 Aug 2024 | Round 26 | Dolphins 40–6 Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 50,049 | Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins) |
| 28 Mar 2025 | Round 4 | Dolphins 12–20 Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 44,278 | Gehamat Shibasaki (Brisbane) |
| 16 Aug 2025 | Round 24 | Brisbane 38–28 Dolphins | Suncorp Stadium | 44,350 | Reece Walsh (Brisbane) |
| 27 Mar 2026 | Round 4 | Brisbane 26–12 Dolphins | Suncorp Stadium | 45,882 | Pat Carrigan (Brisbane) |
| 8 Aug 2026 | Round 23 | Dolphins 40–32 Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium | 50,188 | Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins) |
The Battle Medal
Since the first meeting, the player of the match has received the Battle Medal, chosen by a panel of rugby league commentators. Brisbane players have won six of the eight medals, Dolphins players two. Selwyn Cobbo is the only player to win it twice, both times for Brisbane, before he moved to the Dolphins for 2026. Herbie Farnworth won the Dolphins’ first medal in 2024, against the club he had left a year earlier, and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow won the second, scoring the try that put the Dolphins ahead for the first time in the 2026 comeback. The medal has gone to the winning side every time.
| Player | Club | Medals | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selwyn Cobbo | Brisbane | 2 | Jul 2023, Apr 2024 |
| Payne Haas | Brisbane | 1 | Mar 2023 |
| Herbie Farnworth | Dolphins | 1 | Aug 2024 |
| Gehamat Shibasaki | Brisbane | 1 | Mar 2025 |
| Reece Walsh | Brisbane | 1 | Aug 2025 |
| Pat Carrigan | Brisbane | 1 | Mar 2026 |
| Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow | Dolphins | 1 | Aug 2026 |
Streaks, margins and crowds
Brisbane’s longest winning run is 3, which they have managed twice: March 2023 to April 2024, and March 2025 to March 2026. The Dolphins have not yet won two in a row. Brisbane are unbeaten as the home side, 4 from 4, while the four matches with the Dolphins as hosts are split 2–2.
The biggest win is the Dolphins’ 40–6 in August 2024. Brisbane’s biggest is 14 points, which they have done twice: 28–14 in April 2024 and 26–12 in March 2026. The highest-scoring meeting is the most recent, 40–32 (72 points), in which the Dolphins hit the front for the first time in the 68th minute. The lowest-scoring is the first, Brisbane’s 18–12 win in March 2023.
Crowds have been big from the start. The first meeting drew 51,047, still the record. Three meetings have drawn more than 50,000. In total 362,624 people have watched the eight matches, an average of 45,328.
The first Battle for Brisbane: Broncos v Crushers
The Dolphins are not Brisbane’s first city rival. The South Queensland Crushers joined the premiership in 1995, alongside the North Queensland Cowboys, and the name Battle for Brisbane was first used for their meetings with the Broncos. They played twice, and Brisbane won both. The first meeting, at ANZ Stadium on 31 March 1995, came on the night the Super League war broke out, and Brisbane won it 32–0 in front of 49,607. The second, at Lang Park in April 1996, was closer: the Crushers led 8–6 at half-time before Brisbane pulled away to win 28–8. The split in the game meant the clubs never met again, and the Crushers folded at the end of 1997. When the Broncos and the Dolphins first met in 2023, it was the first Brisbane derby in 27 years.
| Date | Result | Venue | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 1995 | Brisbane 32–0 South Queensland | ANZ Stadium, Brisbane | 49,607 |
| 12 Apr 1996 | South Queensland 8–28 Brisbane | Lang Park, Brisbane | 34,263 |
Where the Dolphins come from
The Dolphins grew out of the Redcliffe Dolphins, founded in 1947. Redcliffe joined the Brisbane Rugby League in 1960 and won it in 1965 and 1994, and became the most successful club in the Queensland Cup, with six titles between 1997 and 2018. In October 2021 the Dolphins won the NRL’s 17th licence, ahead of two other Queensland bids, and so became the only former Brisbane Rugby League club to return to the top flight after the Broncos’ arrival in 1988 turned that competition into a second-tier league. They play as the Dolphins rather than Redcliffe, with most home games at Suncorp Stadium, the Broncos’ home ground. Their first coach was Wayne Bennett, who built the Broncos and coached them to six premierships.
About these figures
Results, dates, venues and crowds are compiled from published match records. The 8 August 2026 result and crowd come from match reports, as they were not yet in the published match record. Battle Medal winners come from club and media reports. Only NRL matches between the Broncos and the Dolphins are counted in the totals; the two Crushers matches are shown for history only. Clubs are listed alphabetically throughout.
