‘GI was special’: Tabuai-Fidow opens up on Maroons try record quest
- FOGS
- 45 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow grew up idolising Greg Inglis so it is appropriate that he is on track to break the Queensland’s all-time try record in State of Origin football.
The 2026 Origin series confirmed yet again that Tabuai-Fidow is just as good at scoring tries as a centre as he is in his favourite position of fullback.
The 24-year-old scored in each Origin match to take his tally to 14 Origin tries for the Maroons in just 13 games to sit in third position on the all-time Queensland list.
Ahead of him are only Inglis (18 tries) and Darius Boyd (17).
Inglis was one of the greatest Origin players to lace a boot and a reliable try-scorer but it took him 32 matches for the Maroons to score his 18 tries. That’s a strike rate of 0.56 tries per match.
Tabuai-Fidow is rollicking along at a rate of 1.07 tries per Origin game.
"Greg was a player I looked up to growing up, especially being Indigenous as well," Tabuai-Fidow said.
"I just admire the calibre of footy he produced for this state for such a long time. The stuff GI did was pretty special.
"He was a different style of player to me but he still holds the try-scoring record in Origin. I know I am pretty close, but I haven't looked that far ahead just yet.
"I am out there to play my footy, but I do enjoy scoring tries.
"It is a special feeling to get over the line for Queensland. I just love it, to be honest."
The great Dale Shearer held the Origin try record for most tries by any player in Origin football for more than 20 years, with his 12th try for the Maroons scored in 1991, five years before his 26th and last game for Queensland.
Maroons great and FOGS executive chairman Gene Miles said there were “two common denominators” with Shearer and Tabuai-Fidow.
“They are both lightning fast,” Miles said.
“Rowdy didn’t know how fast he was until somebody was chasing him and Hammer is the same.
“I think the opposition gives up when Hammer gets half a yard in front of them because they just know he has got gears.
Miles played alongside Shearer for the Maroons and Australia and valued his longevity, fun-loving nature and dazzling skill.
“Rowdy was around for a long, long time,” Miles grinned.
“He would keep ringing the selectors up each year to say, ‘I am available’. He was a very good guy to have around in Origin camp. We had a lot of fun with him.
“He came on the Kangaroo Tour in 1986 after the Origin series when he was a kid. Les Kiss got injured and he played two Tests against Great Britain and two against France.”
Shearer’s try-scoring genius came to the fore in the Test at Carcassonne where he scored four tries in a 52-0 win. He went on to play 21 Tests and score 13 tries in a wonderful career.
Shearer was a man Maroons captain Wally Lewis could rely on. That was never better demonstrated than in the last game Lewis played for Queensland when Shearer came off the bench in the 1991 Origin decider to score a classic try in a 14-12. The try helped ensure Lewis left the Origin scene with a memorable win.
“Rowdy put the fear of God into the opposition, simply because they all knew how fast he was and Hammer is the same,” Miles said.
“There are some very nervous outside backs when Hammer joins the action.
“It is common knowledge that Billy likes Kalyn Ponga or Reece Walsh at No.1 so we can play Hammer at two, three, four or five.
“We welcome versatile players like that with open arms but he brings more than versatility. The opposition have plenty to think about when he gets the ball.
Former Maroons assistant coach Josh Hannay is stunned by Tabuai-Fidow’s rapid rise up the try-scoring list for Queensland.
“He is going to smash that try scoring record by the sounds of it,” former Maroons assistant coach Josh Hannay said.
Hannay coached Tabuai-Fidow at North Queensland and for the Maroons.
“He’s one of those players who has the gift to see an opening or an opportunity before others do,” Hannay said.
“At Origin level when the game gets 60 minutes in and guys are out there hanging on for dear life and you have got Hamiso with his speed and instincts looking for opportunities, he is a threat.”
Hannay’s job is to now try and devise ways to stop Tabuai-Fidow in clubland, a task easier said than done.
“I have been blessed to work with Hamiso,” Hannay said
“I was on the receiving end of his brilliance when the Dolphins played us earlier this year unfortunately where he made a line break off a kick return that set up a try and then he scored the match winner climbing above Keano Kini.”
Tabuai-Fidow had a choice when he was young between AFL, Super Rugby and NRL.
He was in the Gold Coast Suns academy and also the Queensland Reds pathway system before joining North Queensland and then the Dolphins, where he has been a revelation at fullback.
“I'm a league guy for life now,” Tabuai-Fidow said.
“Being in the sport and being around it, it's something that I still love and still enjoy doing. The most important thing is when I still love it and still want to do it and keep at it.
“That's what keeps me grounded and wanting to play league.”
