Bears tipped to win final in their inaugural season

THE Dunedin Bears will line up as favourites today against the South Pacific Raiders in the Otago Grand Final.

To say the Raiders are surprise finalists would be an understatement, considering their road to the finals consisted of a number of defeats. However, they pulled together and got it right when it counted most — the minor and major semifinals. The Raiders managed to win both of their semifinals by scoring a try in the last act of play before the fulltime whistle blew, leaving University and the Kia Toa Tigers disappointed.

The Raiders have a great deal of talent among their lineup and should not be underestimated despite a challenging season, particularly with coach David Reedy at the helm. Reedy, the current coach of the Otago representative side, said there was no pressure on his side this time around because they were lucky to be in the final, so they have adopted a nothingtolose mentality.

A win would bring the Raiders their first title since 2015, and would be a first premiership for all their players except the experienced trio of Shaun Tahau, Manassah Kutia and Steven CampbellPaniona.

The Bears, on the other hand, have had a mixed season due to injury and outside commitments but, for the most part, have

looked every bit the title contenders they have turned out to be.

In their inaugural season in the ORL competition, the Bears have managed to notch up victories over all their Otago opponents, as well as gaining some big wins over some of the Southland sides in the Otago Southland combined rounds.

A premiership title in their first season in the ORL would be the fairytale finish to a strong season, and many of the Bears’ players are familiar with finals footy, having come from the dissolved East Coast Eagles club which was the beaten finalist in the last four ORL Grand Finals.