IT’S FOUR- WAY WAR
THE biggest grand final day rivalry in Townsville and Districts Rugby Union history is about to be unleashed on Mike Carney Toyota Park.
Fierce TDRU rivals Teachers West and Brothers will clash in all four of today’s senior grand finals, starting with the women’s decider, followed by the men’s third grade, reserve and first grade finals.
Never in the TDRU’s 50year history have two clubs faced down in all four senior grand finals, and an epic day of 1.15pm - Women: Teachers West v Brothers 2.10pm - Thirds : Teachers West v Brothers 3.35pm - Seconds: Teachers West v Brothers 5pm: First grade: Teachers West v Brothers passion and friendly banter is expected to flow between their hundreds of supporters.
Brothers and Teachers are expecting to play an epic game in today’s headline first grade clash, with the cross- town rivals entering the decider in top form. Brothers snared the minor premiership thanks to a late- season surge, overtaking Teachers West in the final rounds, and they got first blood in week one of finals by beating Teachers in what was a onepoint thriller.
“It comes down to heart more than anything, and whoever wants it more on the day generally walks away with the fruit, so this final’s going to be no different,” said Brothers captain Emil Grant, whose team earned a week’s rest after its major semi- final win.
“Obviously at this time of year there’s a lot of people nursing injuries, so a couple of weeks off is always good to recharge the batteries. We’ve been reinforcing our patterns and plays, so we’re just looking forward to getting out there and having a go.
“There’s a really healthy rivalry between the two clubs which will be on show out here, and we’re expecting it to be a very close contest and great battle.”
Teachers co- captain Gene Morgan said he always expected to play Brothers on grand final day.
The Bulldogs overcame a determined Burdekin Canetoads 22- 5 in last weekend’s preliminary final to have a crack at winning a third straight premiership.
“We were expected to be there for the grand final, and now we’re here,” Morgan said.
“We’re used to it, we know how to prepare for it and we basically have the same group of guys from the last two seasons, so we all know … what to expect.
“We split it 2- 2 with Brothers throughout the season and they got us in the semi, so hopefully we can get one back on them.
“We’ve been the dominant force for the last two years, so that result actually takes the pressure off us in a way.
“We’re not expected to win I suppose, and they’ve won the last two games against us, so all that suggests is it’s going to be a tight one.”
Both Morgan and Grant ex- pect to teams.
“Our other co- captain Seamus Huppatz is going to be fighting fit to play, so I’m not too sure what’s going to happen there, but we have plenty of grand final experience,” Morgan said. “Anyone who might have to come into the team has been there before.”
Grant and his team will be desperate to end Teachers’ two- year stranglehold on the competition and the Brethren skipper is hoping his side’s hard work pays off.
“We work very hard throughout the year and we’ve been fortunate to share in a lot of success throughout the year, so we’re hoping to have more success this weekend,” he said. field full strength