OLD BOYS TO FLEX THEIR MUSCLES IN THE BIG ONE

IT has been a week dominated by the ‘will he, won’t he play?’ debate surrounding Teachers West skipper Josh Fletcher, but North Ward’s Alex Nicolosi has barely noticed.

The Old Boys leader has been focused on a different part of the field ahead of the Townsville District Rugby Union grand final between the two proud clubs.

Nicolosi believes it will be a game decided by the forward packs, and he has backed his own to get over the top of their rivals.

The Old Boys have been staunch with their direct game style, with their robust front row willing to put in the hard yards to gain the upper hand.

“We are expecting a tough game, a lot of emotion so I think we need to beat them with physicality,” Nicolosi said.

“(Our preparation) has been the same we have done all year. We will just keep doing what we have been doing.

“We are known for our forward pack, we have a lot of big workhorses. big Jon Salee, Nate (Diedrichs) and Joely (Gaidan), they are all workhorses who will keep putting out for 80 minutes.”

For North Ward, it is the realisation of several years of hard work.

For the past three seasons, the Old Boys have fallen just short of the big one, bowing out in the preliminary final each season.

But not this season. With their rugged hooker at the helm, North Ward have reached their first grand final in more than 15 years.

Nicolosi said the week before the grand final had been filled with messages of support from plenty of the club’s former greats.

For Teachers West, who have featured in the past seven straight TDRU deciders, they know what sort of emotion will come from the opposite side of the field.

But it has not dented the confidence of the Bulldogs, who have had 12 months to reflect on the heartache of last year’s decider loss to Brothers.

That grand final was Teachers West’s chance to equal the record for the most consecutive premierships, and that missed opportunity has eaten away at the club all season.

“This is definitely not just another game, if we took anything from last year we can’t leave any stone unturned,” Bulldogs skipper Josh Fletcher said.

“We are as motivated as ever, we still have that fire in the belly that we did last year. This is a grand final and this is what we play for.

“(Last year’s loss) hurts, it still stings. That was one that got away, we were on the brink of equalling the premiership record. That fire is still there. We haven’t spoken about it directly, but it is in the back of everyone’s mind.”

Fletcher will start at flyhalf for the Bulldogs after the club managed to overturn a three-game suspension at a special judiciary appeals panel.