There’s no tomorrow in the toughest game of the season to win

Joe Pignataro

Preliminary Final weekend, the toughest game of the whole season to win. A spot in the Grand Final awaits the winner. For the loser, the off-season boils down to “how close we got to playing off on the final day of the season.” 

For both University Blues and St Kevin’s, Saturday cannot come quickly enough. 

Blues couldn’t have gotten any closer to already being in the Grand Final. 20 minutes into the final quarter, a lead of 23 points evaporated in a matter of moments at the hands of Collegians. 

They can thank their lucky stars they earned a double chance to have another go this weekend. Seven days to feel the sting, process the loss and focus on this weekend. 

St Kevin’s powered over Old Scotch. From the early moments of the game, they set the tone and the margin. The Cardinals came back at different times during the contest, but overall answered every question that was put to them. 

The Blues did almost everything right against the Lions. A dream start with a 24 point lead 15 minutes into the game, Sam Grimley with two early goals, Cam O’Shea going head-to-head with Dave Mirra. 

Charlie Furphy and Ed Ziebath facing off against Kenny Ong, Sam Hibbins, Viv Michie. And, in the battle of the big men, Ayce Cordy took the early points against Ben Woodfull. 

They’ll all need to go to another level this Saturday. Against the likes of Will Coates, Josh Wallis, Cam Hodges, Tom Jok, and the list goes on. 

Sam Cozens provided a spark, for a 19 year old playing in his first final, he could be the livewire that gets off the chain in this one. 

The Special K’s (Paddy Kerr and Shaun Kennedy) of St Kevin’s have hit form at the right time of the season. 12 goals in the last fortnight between the pair. Gleeson and Cutler will have a task on their hands stopping the dynamic duo of SKOB. 

Despite having one less day’s break leading into the match. Physically this team is as professional as they come. It won’t worry Anthony Lynch in the slightest. 

Whilst St Kevin’s have been the most dominant side between 2017 and today. One side has proven to be somewhat of a stumbling block for them. University Blues is that side. 

Since 2014, these sides have met 17 times. University Blues has a positive head-to-head record against St Kevin’s. 11-6. This will be the fourth final between the two in that time, again Blues boast a 2-1 lead.

The 2019 Grand Final is the most recent finals meeting. A day that went the way of Blues. The final game of Lynch’s playing career. And, for St Kevin’s to not feature in this year’s decider, Blues will have to produce another winning performance. 

They’ll take the momentum of recent battles into this one, having won Round 8 by three points, and coming from a 19 point deficit in Round 13 to win by two points. 

The conditions this weekend are vastly different from the conditions both sides were confronted with during the home and away side. A day made for the running machine Tom Jok. For the high-flying acrobats of James Paterson. For the quick hands of Cam Hodges and Sam Hodge. 

Whichever of these two sides come out on top, they’ll have rightfully earned their place in the big dance.

This weekend is in the minds of many experts, and many coaches, the toughest weekend of football to win on. A spot in the Grand Final is on the line, it will be a spot well earned come 5pm on Saturday. 

I can’t wait to watch it all unfold on RSN Xtra2 from 1pm.