FNQ CLUB RUGBY GRAND FINAL PREVIEW

IT shapes as one of the most anticipated FNQ Rugby grand finals in recent history.

Three-time FNQ Rugby premiers Barron Trinity’s quest to match the legendary Brothers team which won five straight titles in the early 2000s has never been under more pressure than it is now.

The Bulls were forced to qualify for today’s grand final the hard way, toppling an undermanned but strong Southside Crusaders in last week’s preliminary final.

Standing in their way of a fourth straight title and a shot at history is one of the most well-rounded squads to have taken a Far North footy field.

The rivalry between JCU Mariners and Barron Trinity is already one of the best in FNQ, and that will be reignited when the powerhouses clash for the third decider in four years.

Mariners captain Kai Lowah was a member of the JCU teams which lost to the Bulls in 2016 and 2018, but those experiences could set his side up for a better shot at beating the Bulls.

“I guess it’s the nerves,” Lowah said. “Probably because we’ve been here before, the nerves have gone away.

“I know what to expect, I know what the Bulls can throw at us, we just have to counteract as best we can, which we’ve already done this year.”

Lowah’s Mariners have lost just once this year, an early season fixture in which a light failure forced an early end.

But the FNQ representative said the side’s on-field success was down to a whole of squad approach to achieving their goal of making the grand final.

“It’s been a really good year, we’ve really had to band together with all of us working, our families,” Lowah said.

“It’s always been a factor with putting the work in at training so we can perform on game days. We’ve come together as brothers, we’ve always been a family, and our work ethic has been really good to get us here.”

Lowah said defence would decide which team hoisted the Rainforestation Cup at fulltime, a view with which Barron Trinity captain Cameron Thomson agreed.

Thomson will be a key for the Bulls – he is the forward pack’s leader and was man of the match in last year’s grand final victory, but with a very different side this season he’s taken nothing for granted.

“We just have to treat it like any other game,” he said.

www.cairnspost.com.au/sport Picture: BRENDAN RADKE Players to watch and a look at the FNQ Rugby GF coaches ALL ON THE LINE: Barron Trinity Bulls captain Cameron Thomson and JCU Mariners captain Kai Lowah at Barlow Park, where they will go head-to-head in today’s FNQ Rugby A-Grade Grand Final.