Who will it be AT A GLANCE
THE Suva Grammar School players have been reminded to forget the 14-8 victory against Marist Brothers High School in the Southern Zone competition earlier this year as the Vodafone Super Deans Championship under-18 final will be a different story in Lautoka today.
The two schools will clash for the prized Deans Trophy at 5.40pm at Churchill Park.
Apart from training this week, the SGS team has been working on mental strength which they believe will be the key factor in the fixture.
SGS manager Akuila Wainiqolo
said the win in the Southern Zone was really not an indicator of the strength of their opponents. He says Marist will come out stronger.
“We felt that once they (MBHS) brought in good instructors and coaches, they have become extremely strong,” he said.
“But our boys are ready to take up the challenge. It will all come down to the team that has the mental strength at the end. The SGS family has been inspired with the achievement so far.
“It has been a long time coming. Just being here is going to be a cause for the Grammarians to have a big party whatever happens.”
SGS will dedicate the match to
Fixtures:
8.10am U14 RKS-MBHS 9.20am U15 RKS-QVS 12 midday U16 QVS-SGS 1.20pm U17 SGS-MBHS 2.50pm U19 Ra High-Ratu Navula
3.45pm U18 Raluve final Natabua High-Jasper Williams High
5.40pm U18 SGS-MBHS late teammate Iosefo Tikoisolomone. The tight head prop passed away in July after a short illness.
The side will also without star players Philip Baselala, Josefa O’Connor and Sairusi Masi, who are with the Fiji schoolboys team in New Zealand.
Wainiqolo said it would be a challenge for the other boys coming in to fill those vacant positions.
“I think that one thing that must be attributed to these players is that it has been a long journey for them. They came into the competition as the unrated team. So to be in the final is a huge achievement for them which they will want to embrace and enjoy,” he said.
“This team has been together for some time but has never gone past the quarter-finals stage in the lower grades. They have always lost to Marist and Natabua, so they had to really lift up this year to make it this far.
“We had a team that was poised for the
Deans
Trophy a few years back.
They were the under-17 side that won the title in 2019 that we had planned to make it in 2020 but COVID-19 came in.
“So we are feeling blessed and happy that in 2022 we can put a team in the Deans Trophy final.”