Having squandered a 22-point lead, the Dolphins trailed by two during Thursday night's second-half when Tabuai-Fidow fielded a bomb inside his own red zone and shuffled towards the tryline.
Five-eighth Braydon Trindall launched at Tabuai-Fidow as he began wheeling back in the right direction but the Dolphins fullback shrugged him off.
Cronulla's defence scrambled to contain Tabuai-Fidow, who burst through three more would-be tacklers as he hit top speed down the right edge.
The Hammer scores one of the tries of the season! 🔨— NRL (@NRL) #NRLSharksDolphins pic.twitter.com/RKxMSZMw7JJune 13, 2024
When Sharks fullback Will Kennedy closed in as the last line of defence, the Queensland representative's break looked set to end 20 metres from the tryline.
But Tabuai-Fidow twisted free of Kennedy, the fifth defender to lay a hand on him, and touched down for a try that restored the Dolphins' lead.
The Queensland side never surrendered their advantage, affirming their top-eight credentials with a dramatic 30-28 win.
Tabuai-Fidow admitted he doubted he'd make it all the way to the line for the game-changing try.
"If I'm being honest, I didn't think I was going to score," he said.
"I sort of did a little start-stop there and got past (Kennedy). I was over the moon just to get over the tryline."
Attacking brilliance is now the calling card for Tabuai-Fidow, a man whose speed is so blistering he's had to stop racing against his Dolphins teammates during sprint training.
"I sort of race myself because no one else can keep up. If I am running with one of the boys, I try to go as quick as them," he said.
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett congratulated Tabuai-Fidow in the sheds at fulltime, aware his play had turned the momentum of a game that had swung dramatically into Cronulla's favour.
"I just went in and shook his hand, gave him a hug and he said, 'Good game'," Tabuai-Fidow said.
"That's always good, coming into the dressing room and getting that off your coach, especially off Wayne.
"It gives me heaps of confidence, just to go in there and see him smiling and happy."
Speaking to the press, Bennett singled out four-time premiership-winning centre Steve Renouf as the only other player he has coached with the same skill-set as Tabuai-Fidow.
"Him and Hammer would be the two players that I've coached that have that absolute magic to get to that tryline and create that moment," Bennett said.
Bennett has coached a record 925 games across the NRL and its predecessor competitions - and even more than that when Brisbane Rugby League matches are factored in.
But the 74-year-old master coach said few tries had made such an impression on him as Tabuai-Fidow's.
"(It's) in the top two or three. Steve Renouf scored a try I'll never forget. I'll never forget this one either," he said.
"It was pretty special."
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