Brimson a big loss, but still 'very confident in the lads'

While AJ Brimson has been the talk of the town on the Gold Coast, his older brother Will has also been making quite a name for himself.

Despite being ruled out of the finals, the Mudgeeraba star still has the belief his team can achieve their first A Grade title.

"It's not ridiculous, but I have ligament damage so I'm definitely out for the next two weeks which means my season with Mudgee is over sadly," Brimson said, describing the ankle injury he sustained 20 minutes into the final round clash against Burleigh last Saturday.

There's no denying his omission will be huge for the Redbacks, with the electrifying five-eighth one of the main men who have helped give the 'new kids on the block' their dark horse status ahead of the QTOP Cup finals series.

In their first season of A Grade, the 2019 Doug Lipp Cup winners started the year with a mixed bag of results, before putting the rest of the competition on notice by heroically upsetting competition heavyweights, Burleigh.

"Mudgeeraba were coming from Reserve Grade and had never played A Grade; so we were pretty optimistic at the start of the year, but at the same time, we knew how hard it would be," the Redbacks five-eighth said.

"After the first round when we lost to Runaway Bay, we rallied a few more troops together, built a pretty good culture and started to win a few games.

"We have struggled with injuries in the last few weeks and that has let us down a bit, but on our day, we're definitely as good as anyone else in the competition.

"There will be a bit of pressure on us [being a new team], but I don't think it will disrupt or affect us and they'll be ready to go.

"The boys have been training really well and are super positive this week so come Sunday, we've got every shot to knock [the Seagulls] off [in the semi-final]."

The Tweed Seagulls half is just one of the many Intrust Super Cup players that have featured in this year's Rugby League Gold Coast season, with an even-spread of talent boosting the local community competition.

"It's been good all the Intrust Super Cup boys have been spread across the teams," Brimson said.

"I haven't played A Grade before on the Coast, so I'm not too sure how solid the comp was, but the standard in most teams this year has been pretty top shelf.

"In previous years, Mudgee had only been playing Reserve Grade, but with them stepping up this season, [the inclusion of statewide competitions talent] has strengthened and made the comp so much more even and competitive."

At this weekend's semi-final against Runaway Bay, Brimson said it would be tough to watch on from the stands as his side tries to stop fellow Intrust Super Cup star Guy Hamilton, who has been at his scintillating best for the Seagulls.

"In the first round against them, no one had played together before and they were a good side," Brimson said.

"They have plenty of strike power in their attack and they've got some big boys in the middle that are hard to stop, so if we can control the middle third and shut down Guy [Hamilton] early, it will go a long way to us winning this weekend.

"It's definitely going to be tough for me to watch this weekend's game from the sideline.

"Considering in the first couple of weeks, we worked really hard and started winning games and now we've built a good culture there, my focus hasn't just been on myself, but wanting to deliver Mudgee the premiership in its first year of A Grade.

"Obviously that hope was taken away from me last Saturday, but I'm very confident in the lads and there is good depth at the club.

"I think we're definitely a massive chance of getting the job done this weekend."

Should Mudgeeraba be successful against the Bay, they'll look forward to running out onto Cbus Super Stadium with the big dance being hosted at the home of the Titans.

"I think [getting the opportunity to play at Cbus Super Stadium] is a big up for anyone," the former Broncos Under 20 star said.

"Some of us lads have been lucky enough to play there at the junior levels, but it's a wicked stadium and if we had the opportunity to play there, the boys would definitely step up to the plate and get the job done."

Tickets for Gold Coast's grand final day go on sale Monday via Ticketek.