Familiar faces will underline a new story in the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership grand final with Past Brothers hunting their fourth straight title against West Panthers.
WEST Panthers have been in the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership grand final wilderness since completing back-to-back titles with a 42-28 victory over Isis Devils nine long years ago, and two of their try scorers on that glorious day, brothers Josh and Corey Tanner, will again be key men when they take on Past Brothers in a blockbuster for the title at Salter Oval tomorrow at 6pm, with Josh still at his vintage best on the field and Corey as coach.
Brothers were minor premiers this year, but it came down to a 24-10 last-round victory over the Panthers to decide that title, and it was Brothers’ only win over the red and black juggernaut this year after drawing with them and losing in their first two round games, and also going down to them 22-14 in the major semi-final a fortnight ago.
Brothers, who have claimed the crown four times during Wests’ drought – in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 - advanced to their fourth straight decider, hitting the front for the first time with a conversion late in the second five-minute half of extra-time in the preliminary final against Waves Tigers, then holding on to get home 16-14.
Apart from a three-year stint with East, Corey has been a pumping heart of West seniors for 24 years, as a player, coach, and club President, and he has been there through their highs and lows, and he is confident they can go all the way.
“Chris Robinson has returned from injury and will replace Connor Yeats at fullback, and our preparation was good,” Corey said.
“The key to us winning is discipline and controlling what we can control - we won’t change much and will play the same way we have played all year - physical controlled football and do the job.”
Brothers coach Andrew Hamilton said they will be bolstered by the returns of multiple premiership winning winger Benaiah Kambanei, who missed the preliminary final due to injury, and powerhouse second rower Max Shorter, who took out the Les Somerville Medal for Player of the Grand Final in Hervey Bay’s stunning 34-14 victory last year but was missing last week due to work commitments, and he declared that they are “Ready”.
“Bring it on,” Hamilton said.
“Training this week has been really good - we have had two good sessions and we also did a video session of the Wests game, and we are ready to go.
“We’ve got a couple of plans of how to play them, and hopefully we can execute them on Saturday.
“We have benefitted from the extra game last week – we have not had much footy in the last few months with a few also out injured, and it was good for them to get another run under their belt and connections on the field, and I was happy to get through unscathed, and it was better for us having the extra game.”
While there are seven changes from their grand final side 12 months ago, Hamilton also said that loss had been a “talking point”.
“Also, Matt Craven and Hayden Priestley were in the Easts side that lost to us the previous year, so they know the feeling too,” he said.
Hamilton admitted they “didn’t play our best and didn’t play enough footy to get into right places on the field” against the Panthers two weeks ago when they had a 12-1 penalty count against them.
“We were on top the whole first half but we have got to be better disciplined – it is hard to win games if you’ve get 30-40% possession, but I’m sure if we can get 50%, we will be right – it’s always a fierce rivalry against Wests and we have to be ready to go from minute one – if you miss the jump, it’s hard to come back in a grand final.”
Wests will also contest the grand finals in reserve grade and under-15, while Brothers will also be represented in U18, U16, and U13 which will be an all-Brothers affair between their blue and white teams.
Wests: 1 Chris Robinson, 2 Noah Law, 3 Israel Power, 4 Bruce Ikamanu, 5 Gage Laird, 6 Clinton Horne, 7 Laish Salam, 8 Dan Tanner ©, 9 Tyson Douglas ©, 10 Ilaiasi Pongi, 11 Zander Kerr, 12 Josh Tanner, 13 Shaun Ezzy, 14 Nick Tanner, 15 Steve Bernstrom, 16 Livimae Liuanga, 17 Viliami Molisi.
Brothers: 1 Matt Craven, 2 Benaiah Kambanei, 3 Tyrell Priestley, 4 Quentin Olive, 5 Tom Kronk, 6 Mitchell Taylor, 7 Bryden Blair, 8 Tyla Hodge, 9 Eden Hess, 10 Wil Simmons, 11 Max Shorter, 12 Luke Stilinovich, 13 Kevin Sherriff, 14 Taylar Barritt, 15 Hayden Priestley, 16 Brad Shorter, 17 Trae Morrice, 18 Mitchell Sly.
Program – 10am: U13 Brothers Blue v Brothers White; 11.15am: U14 Hervey Bay v East Magpies; 12.30pm: U15 Waves Tigers v West Panthers; 1.45pm: Brothers v Waves Tigers; 3pm: U18 Hervey Bay v Brothers; 4.15pm: Reserve Grade Waves Tigers v West Panthers; 6pm: A Grade West Panthers v Brothers.
