Sudden death playoff for GPS and Sunnybank
GPS face the monumental task of defeating a potent Sunnybank outfit in the Trinity Premier Rugby Minor Semi-Final at Ballymore on Sunday (kickoff 3pm).
Sunnybank has welcomed back QR Reds stars Ben Lucas, Digby Ioane and Greg Holmes over the past month, which has led to them outscoring their opponents 204-46 over that period.
At the same time last year Sunnybank made a late charge towards the premiership, breezing through the finals series to claim the title with a stunning 85-19 win over the Gold Coast.
Many see similarities in Sunnybank's recent performances and have claimed them 'certainties' for this year's title, however coach Roy Saunders believes this year's competition will prove a far bigger challenge.
"It's much more even. Any team on their day could beat anybody and the teams that are in the finals definitely deserve to be there," he said.
"No team is unbeatable. Anybody who thinks or turns up like that is in for a shock. When you come to this time of year all sorts of different factors come into play.
"I would never consider (Sunnybank being unbeatable) under my regime."
Sunnybank's strike power has given them the best attacking record in the competition (628), but Saunders says their defence and combinations has also played a key role.
"There's no doubt the quality of players we've got back have been key in the momentum we have gained. For the first couple of weeks they were scratchy but I think their combinations are starting to form," he said.
"It's pretty clichéd but defence wins grand-finals, so it's played a big part in the way we structure things and especially at this time of the year.
"We've worked on it very hard to get it right. It was a big part of what we achieved in 2005 and 2007. It's one part of the game that I thought we were quite poor at in the earlier part of the season."
The Gallopers are arguably the other in-form team of the competition with eight consecutive victories and head into the match with plenty of confidence after managing an impressive 30-13 defeat over second placed Easts a fortnight ago.
GPS are also no strangers to the pressure of sudden-death matches as they have been in this situation for the previous two months during their surge towards a top four finish, but coach Mick Heenan says the players will still feel the extra pressure of an elimination final.
"As far as finals go the only thing that changes is the pace of the game and the intensity that you have to show," Heenan said.
"Any time you play finals the guys will get a bit nervous. As long as we harness that sort of energy into a positive and aggression on the field then you can use it to your advantage."
Heenan remains aware of last year's finals failure which saw GPS lose two consecutive matches after finishing as Minor Premiers, but says it's not a distraction to any of the players whose sole focus is on their upcoming clash.
"I think any team going into a finals series with eight wins in a row would feel entitled to be confident and we're happy with the last couple of weeks," he said.
The dynamic Sunnybank line-up hasn't fazed Heenan too much, his main concerns focused on preparing his side.
"We're not going to change the way we play too much. We've got a fairly simple way of going about things and its been working for us," he said.
"They're obviously a formidable opponent and are coming good at the right time like we are. They've got some strike power in the backline and some older heads that control things well.
"We've been defending quite well and we can't afford to miss many tackles. We've got to get up in their faces and take away their time and make sure we're aggressive at the tackle.
"On top of all that we have to back ourselves in attack as well. We can't afford not to take risks in attack and we have play in a way that will score us points."
Questions remain over the ability of the Gallopers to perform away from home, with all matches in the second half of the season being played at Yoku Rd becauyse of ground renovations in the first part of the year.
With Mark Bennedick and Sam Satui out the Gallopers could struggle with depth, but Sunnybank also has strike weapons Dayna Edwards and Brando Va'aulu on the sideline.
The winner of this match will face the loser of Brothers and Easts for a spot in the grand-final, while the loser will finish the competition in fourth position.
