Call for vocal crowd at Hostplus Cup Grand Final

Published 3:05pm 18 September 2024

Words by Kylie Knight

Footy fans are in for a massive afternoon of rugby league at Redcliffe's Kayo Stadium on Sunday, with northside rivals Redcliffe Dolphins and Norths Devils going head-to-head in the 2024 Hostplus Cup Grand Final and XXXX City V Country teams also poised to battle it out.

It all starts at 1.30pm with the women's City V Country game, followed by the men at 3.30pm and the Hostplus Cup Grand Final at 5.30pm. Get your tickets now

Redcliffe Dolphins will be playing for a seventh Cup premiership in their 14^th grand final appearance, while Norths Devils have their eyes on a fourth title in their fifth appearance.

It is the third grand final in four years for the Devils, who won back-to-back premierships in 2021 and 2022.

A vocal Dolphins' home crowd could be the difference between Cup glory and heartbreak. Redcliffe will be looking to get one back after losing the 2022 grand final to Norths, and losing 46-18 in week one of this year’s final series.

Redcliffe coach Ben Te’o said his team had bounced back after ‘being smacked pretty hard’ by Norths on September 1.

“Every game it seems like the footy gods are not with us and they keep taking players off us, but we believe in our system and what we’ve worked through all year,” Te’o said.

Redcliffe came back from the week one loss to beat the Capras 36-18 the following week, and Northern Pride in a golden point thriller 17-16 last week.

The Dolphins are ready for Norths on Sunday.

“Preparation started on the plane ride home (from Cairns). It was about enjoying each other’s company, understanding that this is the last week,” Te'o said.

“We have a pretty good routine, so not too much changes.”

Norths and Redcliffe know each other well and both Hostplus Cup teams are feeder teams for the Dolphins NRL side.

Sunday’s team sheets include Valynce Te Whare (Redcliffe), Tesi Niu (Norths), Josh Kerr (Redcliffe), Oryn Keeley (Norths), Mason Teague (Norths) and Harrison Graham (Redcliffe).

Fan favourite fullback Trai Fuller is out with a ruptured ACL, suffered playing for Redcliffe in last Saturday’s grand final qualifier. Jarrett Boland has also been ruled out for Sunday’s game.

Te’o is hoping a vocal, predominantly Redcliffe crowd will help his team prevail.

“It can always make the difference. I’d love it if a lot of our Redcliffe fans came out to support us but also in general also our Dolphins fans,” Te’o said.

“We’ve probably seen some of our crowd numbers dip a bit, which is natural. People maybe used to come here and watch Redcliffe Dolphins and now they go to the NRL games at Suncorp. It would be nice if they doubled-back and came to support us. I’d love to see it nice and loud.”

'I can't wait'

Redcliffe Dolphins Captain Max Bailey is pumped ahead of the biggest game of his rugby league career.

“It’s my first grand final in my Cup career. I can’t wait. We’re super lucky to have it at home,” Bailey said.

“We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries this year, lost a few players and particularly the last few weeks we’ve had a squad that’s been changing a fair bit. While it brings difficulty, it sort of brings the team together as well.

“We’re feeling like we trust each other, no matter who’s on the field. I have full faith in the team we’re putting on the field this weekend.”

He conceded Norths “showed us up” in week one of the finals.

“As a forward pack we talked about it not being good enough. I feel like over the last two weeks we’ve really adjusted things to fix that,” he said.

“It will be different this weekend. We’re not going to miss the start and we’re going to aim up with our aggression and the physicality that we missed last game. We’ll be up for it this weekend.”