Dolphins captain Tom Gilbert has suffered a devastating pec injury on the eve of State of Origin in the Warriors' controversial 16-12 NRL win in Brisbane.

Gilbert, who was set to be named for Queensland on Monday for his first Origin match in two years, left the field in the 29th minute after he tried to tackle Warriors forward Marata Niukore before he scored a try.

The Dolphins skipper, who missed most of the 2023 season with a shoulder dislocation and all of 2024 with an ACL rupture, was seen in the dressing room with ice on his pec and left arm in a sling.

His Origin return is now in tatters.

"He's disappointed, but he's a tough man," Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said.

"He has handled disappointment before and he will do it again. He's not going to be playing in the next couple of weeks with a pec injury, I wouldn't have thought.

"I don't know the exact severity of it. We will find that out with a scan, but if it was a minor one he would have played on."

The clash at Suncorp Stadium in front of 32,185 fans on Saturday reached flashpoint in the lead-up to Warriors centre Kurt Capewell's try in the 36th minute.

Warriors winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, on his own 20m line, clearly knocked on from a bomb, but play was allowed to continue, with Capewell scoring at the end of the set.

"I'm not allowed to talk about referee decisions, everyone has seen what happened," Woolf said.

Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was denied a try by the Bunker in the second half.

A bomb by half Isaiya Katoa was ruled to have been knocked on by prop Mark Nicholls, before the dashing Dolphin had his effort disallowed, despite an on-field ruling of a try.

The Warriors scored in the second half through bench forward Jacob Laban after a Chanel Harris-Tavita bomb.

Tabuai-Fidow and centre Herbie Farnworth crossed late as the Dolphins came roaring home, but the Warriors held on after a typically gritty defensive display.

It was the second-placed side's fifth win in a row and their third consecutive victory in Australia.

"There was still a heart attack at the end, but the bit (I liked) was how controlled we looked defensively," Warriors coach Andrew Webster said.

"They had so much ball in our half. We looked calm and controlled. Fish (James Fisher-Harris) went to the bin at the end, but we stayed solid.

"I am super proud. We are the Warriors. We travel. That is part of the gig."

Warriors half Luke Metcalf was once again on fire and stood up in the big moments.

Kiwi prop Fisher-Harris was put on report and sin-binned in the 76th minute for a high shot on Dolphins hooker Harrison Graham.