Kerr celebrates century with momentum changing shift

Milestone man Josh Kerr celebrated his 100th NRL game in style, with his match-turning stint helping the Dolphins post their first ever win over the Storm.

Winless over the opening four rounds, the Dolphins have now claimed three wins in a row, including back-to-back triumphs over last year’s grand finalists Penrith and now Storm, blitzing the visitors in a seven-tries-to-four performance, including a key one to Kerr which started to turn the game his side’s way.

For the win to come against a former club, with Kerr having previously been a Storm under 20 squad member, the prop said it made the occasion even more special.

“It’s crazy. My family and I were just talking about it,” Kerr said.

“What a coincidence, they were the first club that gave me a chance and now for me to play 100 games against them for Dolphins, do you know what I mean?

“I love this, this is honestly insane to me.

“I love it, this is a dead set fairytale ... I got to play my 100th game at Suncorp Stadium – the bees knees of stadiums by the way – somewhere I always grew up watching Queensland play and then against Melbourne Storm, the team that gave me my first opportunity, so it was like what are the chances of that happening?

“It's a pretty special feeling.”

Rising to the occasion, the 2025 Indigenous All Stars co-captain (representing his Quandamooka mob) has been in good form in recent weeks since earning his recall to the side in Round 5, with his positive energy just as important as his football in helping his side keep the belief they could secure and upset.

“To be fair, I don't really have do too much, I just come on and do my job,” Kerr said.

“I've said it before, I really always wanted to be a starting player because growing up, your starters were your better middles and they're kind of the guys they trusted more, but I think as the game's evolved, there's a big spot for impact players off the bench, you can change the game and you have got to swallow your pride and ego a little bit too and whether that means it's me playing shorter minutes, but doing more output, well if that's what's best for the team, that's what's best for the team, so coming on tonight, I just tried to do that.

“The boys set a great platform at the start … so I just have to come on and bring energy and be myself and I feel like I don’t have to be anyone else, I just have to do my job and I felt like I did a pretty good job (tonight).”

Kerr was not the only forward to put in arguably their best performance of their career, with hard man Ray Stone scoring an unlikely double to put an exclamation mark on the team’s first every victory over the Storm.

“He's just that guy you want to play with,” Kerr said.

“He does all those things, he doesn't need to be there, chasing a kick with Hammer [Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow] … you'd think Herbie or somebody fast, an outside back, but he's the guy you want to play with week-in, week-out, you know what I mean?

“He's a dead set psychopath, I don't think he feels tiredness or weakness or anything in his body.

“He's an absolute legend, he's one of those blokes you love having around.”

Having claimed the scalps of last year’s grand finalists back-to-back, the team’s next focus will be on taking on the Raiders in Canberra, with the Dolphins again facing a test of depth; with Max Plath (foot) and Felise Kaufusi (MCL) added to their casualty ward.

“I think our depth it is going to be tested, but I think we're all doing a great job,” Kerr said.

“However, Canberra are red hot at the moment, aren't they? So we've got a big job to go down there in their home territory.

“But we did the same thing last year, I think we lost a few troops, we headed down the Shark Park, played them and we come away with a win, so anything's possible.

“I don't think we're going to really think too much about it, but we're just going to focus on what we've been doing at the moment.

“It's nothing spectacular, but it's just turning up for each other, so we're just going to keep doing that.”