Canberra Raiders Cup: Preliminary Final Preview

Queanbeyan Kangaroos vs Tuggeranong Bushrangers 

3:15PM, Sunday 7 September at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval

The Queanbeyan Kangaroos and Tuggeranong Bushrangers face off in a mouthwatering preliminary final, with the winner earning the right to take on the Blues in the Grand Final, whilst the loser will have to watch on from the stands.

For the Kangaroos, they enter the preliminary final off the back of a defeat against their cross-town rivals in the major semi-final, with outside back Lucas Thomson crediting the Blues performance but knows his team has another gear in them. 

"They were tough and physical; they executed on their plays and took their opportunities."

"We didn't help ourselves either, we completed at sixty five percent, just had too many errors, weren't discipline enough and did a lot of defending and didn't really play our style of footy," Thomson said. 

Despite suffering a defeat last weekend, the Kangaroos earned the right to have the second chance as they finished minor premiers, however there is one simple focus moving forward. 

"It's got us this far but unfortunately, we can't rest on our loreals anymore, first place has gotten us here but now we have got to move past all of that."

"All that matters now is about winning, so that's all we are focused on now."

Looking ahead to this weekend, the focus for the Roos remains simple as they will look to control their own game and play their style of footy. 

"The biggest thing for us will be playing down the other end of the field, I felt like a lot of footy was played on our try line which we really couldn't get out of, hopefully we can play footy down their end."

The battle in the middle of the field will be key in deciding the contest, with Thomson placing the title of favourites on his opponents. 

"They are playing with confidence, got all the momentum so no doubt that they will be favourites for sure."

Whilst, for the Bushrangers they enter this weekend on an eleven-game win streak, with their latest victory an elimination final victory against the West Belconnen Warriors. 

Bushrangers forward Josh Eppelstun put the impressive performance down to this side's completion rate. 

"We completed really high, I think we were about high eighties, so I think that's the big thing we took from it," Eppelstun said. 

The Bushrangers trailed 16-6 before halftime with the key to the turnaround, not only on the weekend but their season, being the sides cohesion. 

"There's a lot of trust between the group and there has been since the start of the season, despite not getting the results we wanted but as they year goes on there has been a lot of cohesion."

Looking ahead for the Bushrangers, they face a tough task as they look to qualify for the decider, having to eliminate the team which defeated them in the 2023 Grand Final. 

"They are just competitors, they stay in it no matter what the score is and it's always a good matchup, hopefully this weekend's another tough battle and we come out on top."

"They beat us in 2023 so hopefully we can take back what we want and get the almighty prize."

The two sides have faced off twice this season, with the Kangaroos claiming a 50-16 victory in Round Two, while the Bushrangers returned the favour in Round 15 securing a tight 18-8 win in wet conditions. 

Sunday shapes as a mouthwatering prospect as both sides will be desperate to keep their season alive and qualify for the Blumers Lawyers Canberra Raiders Cup Grand Final.