Hunting their fifth straight 1st grade title, Griffith Uni Colleges Knights enter Saturday's grand final in the unchartered position of being underdog.
Their foes, an undefeated Nerang Bulls outfit, have barely landed a blow on them all season, such has been their dominance in the Phil Temperton Cup.
But if anyone can mastermind a win for the ages, it's Super Coach Shaun Cole; leader of the Knights.
We chatted with Cole to hear his thoughts on the match.
Cole: I think the Bulls have earnt the right to be considered favourites.
They’ve beaten us 3 times this year and have been the form side of the competition. The only 80 minutes that matters though is this Saturday so we will be confident in ourselves and confident that we have learnt from those first 3 games and can go to another level when it counts.
Cole: It’s not unfamiliar to us at all, as our Grand Finals in previous years have always been at Away grounds.
I’m expecting a huge crowd there and we know it will be pretty hostile but that just adds to the day.
We will just concentrate on ourselves and really try to enjoy the whole experience because Grand Finals are special.
Cole: We work extremely hard and have done so for a long time now.
Nine Straight Grand Final appearances for our Club is a very impressive stat but it’s not a fluke. The work the Clubs Committee, Coaching Staff, Management and Players have put in is always of a very high standard and that’s allowed us to have continued success that I'm very very proud.
Cole: They are a pretty polished outfit to be fair.
We will be pressuring them from the opening kickoff and doing everything we can to put ourselves in position to score points. If we execute for 80 minutes and remain composed, we will win.
Cole: It was a tough game which is always the way in finals.
Our preparation is always around managing the boys the best we can so they are ready by Saturday.
Tuesday nights we do some video and review/preview the team were up against and Thursday is where we polish up everything we need to on field. Thursday night we will have a team dinner. We always do Saturday Morning Breaky and then I have a bit of a surprise for the lads Saturday pre match to get them in the mood.
It’s a special group I have and I cannot wait to get to 3pm Saturday and see how we go.
The Knights tackle the Bulls for the 2024 Phil Temperton Cup this Saturday at Nerang Rugby Club at 3pm.
