The Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership qualifying finals are here.
Waves Tigers will be without star fullback Cody Maughan, while his elder brother, captain and powerhouse forward Reece is battling an ankle injury, which he suffered at training on Tuesday night, but coach Antonio Kaufusi is confident he will be cleared to play against West Panthers at Salter Oval at 6pm tomorrow.
“Reece is doing everything he can to play – he hasn’t worked all week and has kept his ankle iced, and will be given until Saturday to prove his fitness,” Kaufusi said.
“We also welcome (hooker) Sam Tobin back this week – it was a bonus that we were able to keep him on ice in our last game (two weeks ago), and Kynan Hard played the full 80 minutes, and I’m really happy how he has shared duties with Sam Tobin all season.
“If Reece is out, Flynn Purkis will take his place, although he also got a knock to his hand at training on Thursday – he has come on in leaps and bounds and is just hitting his straps, but he will get his hand assessed today.”
Kaufusi admits the Panthers have “had the wood on us” this season, beating them 18-14 in the first round on March 25. And while the Tigers roared 22-10 on May 13, West won eight in a row, including taming the Tigers 24-6 on June 17, before their last-start 24-10 loss to minor premiers Past Brothers.
“But that doesn’t matter now – it’s what happens this week that counts, and we are excited for the challenge," Kaufusi said.
"The finals have finally arrived and we have trained really well and are building towards them – they have got a really good forward pack and have got some good talent out wide as well.”
Kaufusi has great faith in teenager Tumeli Naco, whom he said “has been unreal all year” and will fill Cody’s big shoes at fullback.
“We’ve had a lot of good players – I’ve been really impressed with our captain Reece, Joshy Hill, Brosy (James Brosnan), and Brendan Grills, Brad Clarke, Dull (Lachlan Dullaway) have also been fantastic, but we don’t rely on one or two players, and we’ve also blooded some under 18s, and two of them will play on Saturday, Tom Morcom and Daniel Cavanagh,” he said.
Kaufusi said they had spoken about their exit from last season when they were minor premiers, before suffering heart-breaking losses in the major semi-final to Brothers 20-18, and preliminary final to ultimate champions Hervey Bay Seagulls 32-28, and that would be another motivating factor.
“We had heaps of guys in that last year, and it has been a really good learning curve for them – they took a lot out of it and are a lot wiser,” he said.
Earlier, East Magpies will meet Wallaroos in the elimination final at 4.15pm.
The Magpies jumped Roos 32-22, ironically also in the season opener, but Roos returned the favour at home 42-30 in their May stoush, before East triumphed 28-20 when they last met in mid-June.
Roos were far from disgraced in a last-round 32-18 home defeat at the hands of the Tigers, while the Magpies escaped with a 36-32 victory over the winless Seagulls, but their coach Jacob Blanke is “quietly confident” they will advance to next week’s minor semi-final.
“We have a number of key players coming back including Trent Seeds, Ethan Ballard and Corey Chapman, and we are ready to go,” Blanke said.
Blanke is also banking on hooker Will Walthall, with whom he won the title last year with Seagulls, continuing his “great form for us this year”.
“We are excited to see how he performs through the finals series – but this week we believe our greatest asset is our strength across the park and the confidence we have together as a team,” he said.
Hero photo: Waves Tigers interchange front rower Flynn Purkis is wrapped up by the Past Brothers defence in a recent clash. Purkis is hoping to overcome a hand injury to take his place in the qualifying final against West Panthers tomorrow.
