Dolphins pocket dynamo Trai Fuller has turned down Brisbane to sign an NRL contract through until the end of 2026.
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The new deal is an upgrade and extension with the 28-year-old being elevated to the top 30 squad for the rest of 2024 after previously being on a train-and-trial deal.
Fuller, who stands at 170cm and weighs 78kg, has been a revelation in the NRL in his 10 games, nine of them this season.
When regular No.1 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was unavailable or injured, he ensured the Dolphins did not miss a beat, scoring five tries, making eight line breaks and running for an average 154m per match.
The Dolphins have previously been criticised for not signing enough "marquee" players, but club boss Terry Reader has always said they would develop their own stars and Fuller is a prime example of that.
AAP has been told Fuller had a tough decision to make in turning down the Broncos after previously being in the U20s squad for the club. The Broncos offered similar terms to the Dolphins but Fuller has been nurtured at Redcliffe, with whom he played colts and in the 2018 premiership-winning Queensland Cup side.
Ironically it was the Broncos who initially allocated him to Redcliffe when the Dolphins' Cup side was a Brisbane affiliate.
"It's special for me, especially with everything this club has done for me," Fuller said of his new deal on Wednesday.
"I am just grateful to be here for another two years. It has always felt like home ever since I came here since 2016.
"(The new deal) just sets me and my family up.
"I have got my new daughter here, my stepdaughter … and my partner just works around the corner at the Redcliffe Hospital.
"Everything's around here for me and it's hard for me to leave."
Reader said the Fuller signing was deserved and a tribute to what the Dolphins stood for.
"Last year he had limited opportunity in the NRL but demonstrated his talent and development by being named player of the year in the Queensland Cup competition," said Reader.
"This season he has showed he belongs in the NRL and the new contract is the reward for that.
"He is the perfect example of one of the reasons the Dolphins were admitted as a team to the elite competition, so talented young players from the area didn't have to leave Brisbane to make it in the NRL."
With Tabuai-Fidow now back at fullback, coach Wayne Bennett has Fuller on the bench for Sunday's match against Gold Coast at Suncorp Stadium.
"It's been a lot different," Fuller said.
"I've never really played that position that much, maybe a bit when I was younger, but just playing first grade ... I wouldn't have it any other way."
Australian Associated Press
