The penultimate weekend of the Hostplus Cup is here, with two matches left to decide the 2025 Grand Finalists.
Kicking off the weekend will be the Burleigh Bears hosting the Redcliffe Dolphins.
The Bears as a club have so far had a dream 2025, winning the Cyril Connell and Mal Meninga Cup, in addition to both of their senior teams qualifying for a preliminary final.
Despite the success Burleigh have experienced, their best day may still be ahead of them.
The Bears’ Hostplus Cup side have been far and away the best team this season, winning the minor premiership and cruising past the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the first week of finals.
Following their week off, the Bears will be primed for their second clash with the Dolphins this season, with Burleigh prevailing 30-12 the last time these two teams played in Round 20.
Throughout Burleigh’s nine-game winning streak their halves duo of Josh Rogers and Guy Hamilton have been second to none, chipping in 19 try assists since Round 14.
Rogers and Hamilton have been provided a great platform through the hard work of their middle forwards such as Sam Coster and Matthew Koellner.
Now to the Redcliffe Dolphins, a team that was a genuine risk of missing the finals only a month ago now find themselves one win away from back-to-back Grand Finals.
A big contributor to the Dolphins’ change of form is their prolific centre, Will Partridge.
The Norfolk Islander has been close to the form player of the competition in the last month, scoring six tries and providing three try assists in his past four matches.
The emergence of Jordan Plath at hooker has done wonders for the Dolphins too, with the rookie dummy-half playing his role perfectly – providing good service and boasting a 94% tackle efficiency from his 174 tackles over his five games this season.
The second preliminary final will see the Norths Devils hosting the Wynnum Manly Seagulls at Bishop Park.
The main story emerging from this clash is the likely return of Selwyn Cobbo for Wynnum.
The last time Cobbo faced the Devils in a finals match, he went nuclear – running for 274 metres and breaking an astonishing 18 tackles in a historic Grand Final performance.
However, despite the best efforts of the Cherbourg native, the Devils would go on to win the Grand Final 16-10.
If the Seagulls are to atone for their 2021 Grand Final loss, it will be Liam Sutton and Jock Madden steering them to victory in the halves.
The duo’s last outing against the Ipswich Jets seems to have dispelled the initial teething issues the two ball-dominant playmakers had playing together.
Another weapon for the Seagulls is their prodigious hooker, Cameron Bukowski.
Already boasting an impressive 2025 season, Bukowski stamped his authority on last week’s semifinal, scoring a hat-trick and kicking a timely 40/20 in addition to his stout defensive work.
In the blue corner, all eyes will be on Manase Kaho who continues to excel for the Devils year after year.
2025 has been no different for Kaho, who has scored 14 times in his 19 matches.
In his last two matches Kaho has scored three tries and has broken a whopping 21 tackles in addition to averaging just shy of 200 metres a game.
The Devils have asserted themselves as the kings of September footy in the past five years and will be confident of their chances of securing back-to-back Grand Final appearances.
Tune into Qplus.tv, 9Now or Kayo to catch all the action of this week’s preliminary finals.
To secure your tickets to this year’s QRL Grand Final day, click the link here.
