BLK Queensland Premier Rugby Preview – Preliminary Final
The 2016 BLK Queensland Premier Rugby preliminary final will kick off this Sunday at Ballymore, with University of Queensland and Sunnybank going head-to-head for the chance to face Brothers in the grand final on Sunday, 7 August.
University will be looking to bounce back after going down to the Brethren 18-10 in last weekend’s major semi-final, while Sunnybank knocked off the reigning premiers, Souths, with a 37-34 win in the minor semi-final.
Despite last week’s result, University captain Connor Mitchell is confident his side can bounce back this weekend.
“We’ve got to take it in our stride, it was a disappointing loss but we’ve got to move on and play better this weekend against Sunnybank,” Mitchell said.
“We made a few costly errors which really let us down. We didn’t execute a few of our plays and that got us on the back foot.
“The Dragons are a threatening side with quite a few attacking weapons. We’ve got to be organised in our defence because if we let them play unstructured rugby they can be dangerous.”
Interestingly, Sunnybank will be captained by Conor’s older brother Brendan. A rarity to have two brothers captaining opposing sides in a Premier Rugby finals fixture.
“I’d never thought I’d see the day, but it’s exciting and we’ll treat it as any other game where we try to get one over on each other. We’re pretty competitive,” Brendan said.
When asked about how their parents felt about Sunday’s match Brendan joked: “They’re torn, they don’t even want to come to the game. We’ll have to wait and see how they feel on Sunday.”
Preliminary final matches begin at Ballymore at 8:35am on Saturday morning, with the Wests and Redlands women’s teams facing off for their chance at a grand final birth. Entry for matches across the weekend is $10, with tickets available for purchase at the gate.
The two Premier Grade match will be LIVE streamed via Facebook LIVE as well as thewww.redsrugby.com.au homepage.
Preview the preliminary-final and gain valuable insights into the Premier Rugby competition in this week’s edition of the Premier Rugby Weekly digital program: http://bit.ly/2aA3HYP
You can also view the latest episode of the Premier Rugby Wrap here: http://bit.ly/2apFZk5
View Premier Rugby fixtures and results here: http://bit.ly/1Wt41uE
View the Premier Rugby ladder here: http://bit.ly/1Q8QGAe
University of Queensland v Sunnybank
Location: Ballymore Stadium
Kick-off: 3:05PM
University of Queensland came into the BLK Queensland Premier Rugby finals on a 15-game win-streak but were met by a determined Brothers’ outfit in their major semi-final match. The Brethren handed the Red Heavies their first defeat since Round 1, in a clinical display of finals Rugby, forcing UQ into the preliminary final to be played at Ballymore this Sunday.
Prior to University’s match, Premier Rugby fans enjoyed a minor semi-final classic, as Sunnybank secured a last minute, 37-34 victory over Souths. The Dragons got off to a flying start and led the reigning champions 24-10 at half-time. Souths came back, and with 10 minutes remaining, the scores were locked up at 34-all. In the dying stages, Sunnybank sharp shooter Jake Strachan nailed a penalty goal to set up Sunnybank’s preliminary final encounter with UQ.
For the Students, this is their biggest test of the year. The Premier Rugby heavyweights were favoured to continue their win streak right through to the grand final. Sunnybank now have a golden opportunity to hand University their third loss of the year.
The Dragons fell to the Red Heavies on both occasions in 2016 but their first half in the minor semi-final was their best 40 minutes of the season. If they can deliver a similar performance against UQ on Sunday, they are more than capable of knocking out the minor premiers.
If University fall short, it will be the second time in as many years that they have lost both their finals matches. That should be motivation alone for the Red Heavies and fans can expect a much-improved performance from Mick Heenan’s side. Heenan has coached UQ to three premierships since starting in 2009 and will know how to get the most out of his young side come Sunday afternoon.
University of Queensland: Pat Fepuleai, Tonga Ma’afu, Ausetalia Viaomanu, Angus Scott-Young, Phil Potgieter, Conor Mitchell, Pat Morrey, Jack Cornelsen, Scott Gale, James Dalgleish, Jock Campbell, Nathan Russell, Josh Birch, Tom Pincus, Tom Banks
Coach: Mick Heenan
Sunnybank: Feao Fotuaika, Moli Sooaemalelagi, Tereina McLean, Brendan Mitchell, Tuaina Tualima, George Blomfield, Chazz Mahina, Jeffrey Faamausili, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Jake Strachan, Ryan Menzies, Fred Dorrough, Conrad Quick, Joshua Edmond, Joshua Bowen-Bowyer
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