Queanbeyan Blues (1) v Queanbeyan Kangaroos (2) on Sunday at 3:00pm at Seiffert Oval
A Grand Final position is up for grabs this Sunday, when the top two teams of the regular season come head to head to decide who will be the first team into the decider.
It’s also a replay of last season’s TTM Canberra Raiders Cup Grand Final, between the two crosstown rivals in the Queanbeyan Blues and Queanbeyan Kangaroos. Only won win and one competition point separates the two sides season, with the Blues finishing first at the end of the regular season for the second year running.
This will be no comfort however to Blues Coach Simon Woolford, who saw his team in a similar position last year before losing the Grand Final to Aaron Gorrell’s Kangaroos.
The two teams are 1-1 all this season with the Kangaroos winning 26-10 in their round two meeting and the Blues 30-24 in round nine. The two teams have not met since then and will be wary of what their opposition will throw up on Sunday.
Woolford said he expects another close encounter between the two teams this weekend, after the matches earlier this season showed the closeness in the two teams.
“We were a bit off to start the season and the Roos got the better of us in round two, but we showed our improvement with a good win later on in the season,” Woolford said. “It’s been a few weeks since we’ve played them so once again it’s a bit of an unknown for us and we’ll need to be at our best this weekend to beat them.”
Kangaroos Hooker Jordan Macey said the Roos were fociussed on getting the win and securing a Grand Final position and the team would prefer a week off heading into a decider.
“Teams often say they benefit from playing back to back games leading into a Grand Final but I believe it’s better to get the week off and get players rested ahead of a grand final and avoid any further injury,” Macey said.
Macey said the cross-town rival between the Blues and Roos was always a highlight of these big matches and said the Kangaroos would be looking to defeat their arch enemies.
“There’s no bigger game for us than playing the Blues especially at this time of the year,” Macey said. “It’s great to win finals buts it’s even better to win them against the Blues.
