The Dolphins have not only come away from Thursday night’s game with a spectacular win over the Bulldogs but a display that is destined to be cemented in their mythology immediately. That was due in part to the brilliance of Jamayne Isaako, who had arguably his best ever performance with the Phins, and rivalled his club try record, setting the standard with a pair of superb runs at the start of each stanza. By the end, the red and white were on the cusp of the eight, in a great sequel to their thrilling win over Melbourne at Suncorp.

Of course, Isaako was just one ingredient in a sublime synergy – it was no coincidence that the best team try of the season ushered in the Phins’ golden period eight minutes before the break. Kodi Nikorima, back after two weeks of suspension, had an immediate impact with two beautiful try assists, while Jeremy Marshall-King celebrated his first footy of the year following his freak knee accident in January with a try out of dummy half. Jack Bostock also continued his scintillating comeback with a balletic Stephen Crichton combination.

On the other side of the Steeden this was a crushing game for the Dogs, the most catastrophic of their four straight losses since their shock victory over Penrith, especially with Viliame Kikau only two weeks into his three month stint on the sideline. Canterbury didn’t start all that badly, making their mark with two tantalising runs up the middle, the first from Jaeman Salmon to land first points beneath the posts, the second a long-ranger from Jacob Preston, forcing Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to make the first trysaver of the night.

Even Isaako’s spectacular opening try didn’t quite dent the Doggies’ mood, as a Sitili Tupouniua offload paved the way for Connor Tracey to pop a freak harbour bridge offload out for Stephen Crichton to put one down on the wing – and even if Critta had been the beneficiary rather than the instigator of this quick thinking, it was good for his men to see him in the spotlight. From there, however, the Phins moved through several escalations that saw them gain a stranglehold on the game that prevented Canterbury from scoring again.

The first came eight minutes from the break, in the form of a team try that utterly changed the rhythm of the night by proving what the hosts could do when they gelled. It began, auspiciously enough, with a Bulldogs left sweep, and spotlighted Isaako, who had taken a skip and a jump to sneak past Tracey on the sideline and carry Bailey Hayward to the chalk at the 20^th minute. Now he intercepted a loose Lachie Galvin pass and popped it inside for Bostock to burn down the field, Tracey and Bronson Xerri converging on him at the twenty.

Not only did Bostock shrug off Xerri, he prevented Tracey holding him on the ground, passing on his knees to commence a left edge play that ended with a soaring wide ball from Isaiya Katoa and a neat double pump from Nikorima for Selwyn Cobbo to slam one down. Escalation part two came five minutes later, when Preston came hard out of the line to smash Katoa without the footy, earning himself ten in the bin and some Tom Gilbert ire. Nikorima’s next assist was just as silky, a double pump to bring in Xerri and set up Isaako.

The halftime score of 14-12 didn’t reflect the sheer dominance of the Dolphins in these last few minutes, and sure enough escalation part three came five minutes into the second stanza, just after a near-reprise of their right-left team try. Call it the apotheosis of Isaako, who further perfected the mad charge of his opening try by seizing a Hammer cut-out, pivoting infield to elude Tracey, outpacing Jonathan Sua, and making it through another Hayward grab to land a hat trick, before slotting his second of six conversions tonight.

This was the tipping-point of the game, ushering in a torrent of Dolphins tries that began with JMK marking his return with a dummy and cross following a big Gilbert run – a great display in itself, but in the grand scheme of things a mere precursor to the magic moment of the game, the sequence that instantly etched this into Phins folklore. Once more Isaako made havoc up the right but this time Tracey was there to smash him into touch, only for Jamayne to lob the right-handed offload back in field as his body hung over the sideline.

The pass was freakish enough but with Bostock reaching out his massive wingspan to rein the Steeden in with his own right hand, this was footy poetry, a call-and-response that transformed the game into Dolphins myth-making, and made the question of who would win feel beside the point. As a result, barely any effort seemed to go into the last two tries – in the first, Katoa dummied long and sent a short ball across to Nikorima, who deservedly put down a four-pointer of his own as Galvin, who was visibly tiring, slid out too fast.

Finally, three minutes from the end, and in a flashback to Kulikefu Finefeuiaki’s late try against Melbourne last week, Cobbo mirrored Isaako’s mad dashes on the other side of the park. Looking in field just long enough for his gaze to suggest a kick, he made Tracey second-guess himself ever so slightly, and in that micro-second managed to slice past him, steaming ahead of Critta, who didn’t come close to touching him, and whose kick in the last couple of seconds, which careened awkwardly off the right padding, summed up the entire match.

The Dolphins defended well in these final minutes too, as when Hammer and Gilbert wrapped up Hughes right on the line, so they’re well placed to take on a Rabbitohs outfit that will be without Latrell Mitchell next week, and probably still smarting from the agony of Newcastle’s clutch win over them in Round 8. Meanwhile, the Dogs have to find a way to rebuild their narrative, and recentre Critta’s undoubtable leadership vision, so next week’s opener against a Sharks team desperate to remain within the eight will be a trial by fire.