Mariners sail into final as Bulls wait
Brothers put up brave fight but injuries prove to be hurdle too high
FRONTRUNNERS JCU Mariners and Barron Trinity Bulls will meet in the grand final for the second time in three years next week with the Mariners dispatching Brothers 36-17 at Stan Williams Park on Saturday night.
The injury ravaged Brethren were stoic in defeat, trailing 10-5 at halftime but eventually ran out of players, with the barnstorming Lance Kupa running in two late tries to put the result beyond any doubt.
With key players Marcus Johnstone and Angus Warnock taking the field with calf and hamstring complaints, Brothers coach Sven Schaefer said his side did well to fight till the dying stages.
“Mariners played some beautiful rugby towards the end but I think we gave them a scare in the first half,” he said.
“We just didn’t have the squad in the end. At the end of the day the better team won.
“If we had have won tonight we would have had huge problems next week.
“We’ve literally run out of players. There are four out already and three who injured themselves during the game.
“Marcus (Johnstone) is concussed, we have two significant knee injuries too. It would have been very difficult to put together a competitive team to play Bulls.”
Boasting one of the youngest sides in the competition, Mariners coach “Doc” McMahon praised skipper Claude Thomsen for inspiring his charges in the second half.
“Our average age is only about 23 and part of being a mature footballer is having the right attitude from the start,” McMahon said.
“I was really pleased with our leadership and I think our intensity lifted.
“Until you’re under pressure, you don’t know what you’re capable of. Bulls put us under pressure last week and I hope we learned something from that and take it into next week.”
While the Bulls have enjoyed a week off, McMahon said the Mariners would take momentum into the final game of the season, despite having lost 23-10 to Barron in the first week of finals.
“The boys wanted the break but I think playing this week has been an advantage for us and I can’t see how (having a week off) is good for the Bulls,” he said.
“We’re on the up and it’s going to be a very close contest.”
Schaefer predicted Bulls to be too strong in a replay of the 2016 grand final.
“I think the Bulls are favourites. The Mariners forward pack will need to step up,” he said. “They need to neutralise their 9-10 combination of Declan Meredith and Matt Kirk. If they don’t, I think they’ll fall apart.”