A member of The Dolphins’ Top 30 roster has exited the club for a rival Queensland NRL team in the hope of new opportunities.
Initially joining The Dolphins on a train-and-trial contract before moving to their development list, Michael Waqa was promoted to the club’s Top 30 list ahead of this season, having come through the team’s Under-18s Academy side in the Mal Meninga Cup.
A member of last year’s Queensland Under-19s team and a former Under-17s Queensland Country representative, Waqa was seen as one of the top young forwards in The Dolphins system and even captained their Mal Meninga Cup side.
This saw him feature against the North Queensland Cowboys earlier this year in the NRL Pre-Season Challenge.
However, the forward’s time at the club has come to a close, having linked up with rivals Brisbane Broncos in recent weeks, adding to the club’s already impressive stock of young forwards.
Since making the move to the Broncos, Waqa has featured in four matches for the club in the NRLQ Series, in which he has been invaluable in the forward pack and even crossed the line for a try last week against the Gold Coast Titans.
“Michael did very well in his first pre-season training with NRL players,” Dolphins CEO Terry Reader once said about the youngster in a statement from 2023.
“We have always said one of our visions is to see young local players come through the grades and play NRL with the Dolphins.
“Michael has the opportunity to come right through from the juniors to the NRL, and we are excited about what the future holds for him.”
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