Josh Kerr is playing like a man with everything to prove and everything to stay for.
Approaching his 100th NRL appearance, the 29-year-old prop is in career-best form at the Dolphins and eyeing a long-term future at the club he's always considered home, even before it officially existed.
Off contract at season's end, Kerr is yet to enter formal talks with the club but isn't hiding his intentions.
โI get it. It is a business, but I would love to stay a Dolphins player for the rest of my life,โ he said, speaking with AAP.
The decision won't just be a football one. Kerr and his partner Dijana are expecting their first child in August, and the idea of staying in Redcliffe where he once played junior footy and now wears the same jersey under NRL lights adds a deeper layer of meaning to any potential deal.
โI wanted to be a one-club player until the Dolphins came in. I have got my first kid on the way, so it is not about me anymore,โ he said.
โI'm only 29, and playing off the bench the last two years my body feels really fresh.โ
His numbers reflect that freshness: 94 average running metres, over nine hit-ups a game and a tackle efficiency of 98.3%.
He's become one of Kristian Woolf's most reliable middle rotation players.
Kerr's recruitment dates back to a game of 500 in the 2020 Queensland Origin camp, when Bennett was floating ideas about the NRL's next expansion club.
โMe and Wayne were in Queensland Origin camp together in 2020 and tossing up what the next team was going to be,โ Kerr recalled.
โI was with Wayne playing 500 at cards... and I said โI promise you Wayne, the Dolphins will be the next team in because of how strong their development base is, their facilities and financials.'โ
Bennett, who would become Dolphins head coach during their inaugural NRL season, kept his promise of ensuring Kerr was one of the first players called up.
โHe was a man of his word. It couldn't have been scripted any better,โ Kerr said.
That call came while Kerr was sitting in a cafe in Wollongong, still contracted to the Dragons. He finished up at St George Illawarra in 2023, leaving with no bitterness and only pride in what he tried to build.
โWhen I joined [The Dragons] they were at the bottom and I wanted to help turn the club around,โ he said.
Since arriving at Redcliffe, Kerr has delivered consistent impact.
The Dolphins will soon have to weigh up that impact. Several senior forwards, including Kerr, Felise Kaufusi, Kenny Bromwich and Mark Nicholls are off contract, and the salary cap won't accommodate everyone.
โThere's a salary cap and positions in the squad we are working through every day,โ CEO Terry Reader said.
โIf guys are playing good football they get rewarded with contracts.โ
