Dolphins ready for final battle

Saturday's grand final day will be the culmination of a great season for the Noosa senior men’s teams, with Colts, Reserve Grade and A Grade all playing.

Both the A Grade and Reserve Grade teams went straight through to the grand final in the major semi-final week, while the Women’s Phinettes team were eliminated.

However, the young Dolphins Colts side was forced to play off against University last Saturday as a result of losing their major semi-final against second-placed Nambour.

Last week was a nail-biter for the Colts, who managed to secure the win in the last two minutes of the game.

This is a well balanced team with a solid front row, a tough second row and a mobile back row in the forwards.

It’s a 12pm kick-off for Colts, but the day will start from 8.45am tomorrow, with two under-13, under-14, under-15 and under-17 grand finals, as well as the women’s competition between University and Caloundra.

The Noosa crowd will be treated to virtually two A Grade games, as the Maroochydore Reserve Grade and the Noosa Reserve Grade teams both have a blend of youth and experience in their sides.

The Maroochydore front row combination of Wood, Murray and Cook will find themselves against Irving, Robinson and Melville, ably supported by Cogill and this should prove to be an interesting battle, as all of the combatants have considerable experience in this and higher grades.

In the second row, Maroochydore will line up with James Lester and Matthew Schofield against Rick Madden and Cooper Lau, who, while young, have a wealth of experience.

Rick, in fact, is unlucky not to be playing in the A Grade team, as he has earned his position, but it is just difficult to force a gap into that side at the moment.

When it comes to the flanks, Wilson Moore, Keith Strajnar and Tore Shaw are not lacking in either aggression or pace, but they will encounter Huia Whale, Daniels and Hurst from Maroochydore, who are similarly endowed.

At half back, the Swans Daniel Potter is quick but he will struggle to match the experience of Jason McDowell.

Once the comparisons are moved out to the back line, it becomes apparent that this is going to be a close game indeed, with young Jay Moffatt, Rohan Ramsden and Sheldon Smith in close, challenging their Maroochydore counterparts of Clark, Hudson and Manomou.

In A Grade, Maroochydore will be reliant on a big powerful forward pack and steady backs.

Noosa, on the other hand, has the more lauded backs, but their forward pack are no slouches and will be willing to match Maroochydore.

With McNeil, Green and Kearney leading from the front against Duke, Lamond and Balkin from Maroochydore, Noosa will be looking to gain ascendancy in this vital part of the game.

In the second row, Maroochydore will have the edge on the Noosa boys in terms of weight, with Jaaniste and James both large men compared to the Lawai and Gordon combination for Noosa. Dependent upon Lawai’s fitness, it would generally be expected the Noosa boys would be more mobile.

The back row battle could well be one of the determining factors for the game, where Maroochydore rely on the experience of Carmine, Tunnell and Gardiner against a rotating four combination of Walmsley, Simpson, Colvin and Boyd.

The Noosa combination is certainly younger and possibly more mobile, but they will need to dig deep to overcome the experience of the Swans trio.

The halfback tussle should be a good contest, but all that both coaches will be looking for is clean service to the back line.

Noosa’s Trent Morgan has been providing just that to the Beakey, Harrold and Massoud combination throughout the year and they will be hopeful of this giving them the edge over the O’Hehir, Russel and Dalton combination.

Good service to the outside backs of Aglio, “Devil” Forrest and Diianni is imperative in a grand final, and the Noosa coaching staff will be looking for the inside backs to provide just that.

The preliminary final hero from the University and Maroochydore game was Pio Tabua. He will work with steady Cam Smith and Blair Rawlins and Noosa will want to shut them down early.

A Grade kick-off is at 3.15pm, but the festivities start at 8.45am with junior finals.