Knights to finally end might of Surfers

COLLEGES coach Graham Herlihy is adamant his Knights have never been better prepared to slay the giant that is Surfers Paradise.

The Gold Coast Rugby Union campaign goes up a notch next weekend when finals start, with the unbeaten Dolphins to reignite their rivalry with Colleges in the major semi-final.

Surfers crushed Knights’ grand final dreams in 2016, amid a wider winning run that now stretches two seasons, and will again be heavy favourites in the grand final qualifier.

The Dolphins outlined that fact with a 63-5 victory over fourth-placed Bond University on Saturday.

Colleges, meanwhile, got an ideal tune-up for the finals by edging thirdplaced Helensvale 33-26 despite Herlihy opting to rest key personnel.

“It was a really important game for us,” said the coach (pictured), with his side being gifted back-to-back forfeits over the past fortnight.

“We really needed a good hit out and it was.”

While the dominance of Surfers was illustrated by the flogging of another finals combatant on Saturday, Herlihy is convinced the all-powerful roster can finally be taken down.

“Next week is obviously going to be tough but we’re not going to hand it to them on a platter,” he said.

“They have had the wood on most sides and being undefeated for two years they have a lot of confidence; they just keep finding players from everywhere.

“Their set piece has been very strong and ... we’ve been working on our scrum a fair bit.

“We’ve only just got our top side back together so that is good.

“We probably shouldn’t have made that grand final last year but I feel we’re better placed this year.

“We learnt a lot from last year and we’ll be prepared for things this year.”

Colleges will host the grand final this year under the competition’s rotational policy.