Women's Finals Series Preview

Fri, Jul 20, 2018, 2:00 AM
Reds Media Unit
by Reds Media Unit

This weekend the Women’s competition will head into the first round of the 2018 final series with each team competing at Redlands Rugby Club for a preliminary-final spot.

With every team still in finals contention, all three matches are sure to be tightly contested with plenty of physicality on show.

Sunnybank have been the clear outrunner this year having not dropped a game, however they’ll need to fight to the finish with each team having the chance to compete for the premiership.

 

SUNNYBANK VS WESTS @ 7:30PM

SUNNYBANK

Sunnybank will head into this week’s semi-finals in top spot after going through the regular season undefeated for the third straight year. Having held the premiership for the past three years, all eyes will look to whether a possible four-peat is on the cards for the Bankers.

Although Sunnybank have been in consistent form, the bankers know better than anyone that’s it’s a completely different ball game come finals time.

With the competitions current highest point scorer Yolanda Gittens away representing Papua New Guinea at the Sevens World Cup, Sunnybank will look to winger and equal top try scorer Ivania Wong to finish off their expansive style of play.

 

THE INSIDE WORD

Kirby Sefo - Captain

“At this stage we have been a little unlucky with injuries and other commitments to lose a few players during the club season.

But the depth we have amongst our new and younger girls coming through has shown our strength and character.

“Going into finals we are always preparing to be better. As a team we’re continuing to work away on our strengths, fine tune our weaknesses and concentrate on our own game.”

 

WESTS

Wests will have a tough battle on their hands as they head into this week’s semi-final in sixth place. However, after a slow start to the season the doggies have found some late momentum winning their last two games back-to-back and heading into finals with an edge of confidence.

The inclusion of Queensland Super W flyhalf Lavinia Gould has certainly added to the attacking prowess of Wests’ backline, complimenting a few big names in the forwards including Liz Patu and Wynona Baice. The Doggies have proved that they’re willing to stick it out to the end and will hope to secure the upset of the season this weekend.

 

THE INSIDE WORD

Liz Patu - Captain

“For majority of the season we were working with new players, integrating them from the ten-aside development team into the starting XV.

“Whilst we didn’t have a lot of luck on the score board for the majority of the round games we’ve been really pleased at the progress we’ve made with individual skill and general knowledge of the game.

“Although we’ve had some good results towards the end of the season, we’ve left it a little too late and will need to really step up to play top of the table Sunnybank.”

 

REDLANDS VS UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND @ 6:00PM

REDLANDS

Redlands will head into this this weekend’s semi-final comfortably in second place having conceded just two games in the regular season to Sunnybank.

They’ll be hoping to fight their way back to the grand final for redemption, after falling short to the Dragons in the last year.

The Mud Crabs boast a few of Queensland Women’s best in the likes of Cheyenne Campbell, Fenella Hake and Alana Elisaia, who we can except big performances from.

With some dominant wins throughout the season under their belt, Redlands will take plenty of momentum into this week’s semi-final.

 

THE INSIDE WORD

Alana Elisaia - Centre

“We’ve had a bonus with the girls from Logan coming across to Redlands as they didn’t enter a team this year.“Although we’re a mixture of experience, new players and two different clubs we have gelled well and we're happy to be in the top two. I’m proud of the girls for all the hard work and extras they’ve put in, so we really want to finish on a high.

“Heading into finals we’re excited and making sure we don’t underestimate our opponents as anything can happen in finals. We’ll look to play our own game and hopefully make it to the grand final again.”

 

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

University of Queensland will look to finish their season on a high as they go up against an in-form Redlands side.

Having experienced mixed results this year with only two wins from their ten games in the regular season, they’ll have a tough task at hand this weekend.

The Heavies have chipped away this year with an influx of their Sevens squad members transitioning to the XVs format, however they’ll be hoping to repeat the same form as their Round 9 match against Redlands where they narrowly went down 10-7.

With some tight contests against the top teams, the Heavies have shown the unpredictability they can bring during finals.

 

THE INSIDE WORD

Asako Ono - Captain

“The unique mix of XV experience and Sevens players has provided us with an opportunity to improve our skills this year.

“It’s been amazing to see how much we have stepped up as a team from day one of the season. This will definitely be a strength of ours moving forward.

“We’ve had a fair few injuries throughout the season, so a lot of our girls have been filling into new positions. Our season unfortunately hasn’t gone exactly how we had planned but we’re preparing to have a good crack against Redlands this weekend.”

 

GPS VS BROTHERS @ 6:00PM

GPS

GPS will have a lot to play for this final series finishing in third spot, the highest ever finish in the regular season since the team’s inception.

The Gallopers will be hoping to continue their promising form and edge out Brothers this weekend who trail in fourth place by a small margin.

The loss of flyhalf and captain Marlugu Dixon, who is also representing Papua New Guinea at the Sevens World Cup, will mean the Gallopers backline will need to step up in her absence.

Wallaoo Alisha Hewitt has since stepped into the captaincy role and will be the go to in the forwards.

Set piece has proved a critical component in the GPS game play holding arguably one of the best scrums in the women’s competition.

 

THE INSIDE WORD

Alisha Hewitt - Captain“It’s been a successful year for GPS finishing in our highest ever placing.“The coaches are pretty happy with where we are sitting at the moment and the performances we have been producing this season. Heading into finals this week, the team is really looking to step it up a gear and finish out the season on a high.”

 

BROTHERS

Brothers were off to a promising start after winning three of their five games in the first half of the season.

However, injury took its toll on the team during the latter part for the season with just one win from five games.

They’ll be out to redeem themselves in the finals series when they go up against a strong GPS side.

With a relatively young back line, Brothers will be looking to use their mix of youth and experience, especially up front from key players including captain Toa Filimoehala and 100 cap stalwart Jenny Gillett.

 

THE INSIDE WORD

Toa Filimoehala - Captain“We had a really great start to the season with plenty of numbers and new talent coming through but unfortunately injury took its toll in the second round.

“With such a successful first round we’re hoping to get back to that form and put up a good fight in the finals.

“We finally have our full-strength team back and we’ve taken the time off to prepare well so we’re looking to use this and get another win over GPS this weekend.”

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