A grand final rematch between Collegians and Western Suburbs Devils at Sid Parrish Park will be the headline act of Round 10 in the Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup this Saturday.
Wests were downed by Thirroul at Gibson Park in their last start, breaking their unbeaten record and putting Collies in touching distance to replace them as the ladder leaders should they topple them in this match.
The teams have met once since last year’s grand final, with Wests defeating their rivals 22-10 at Collegians Sporting Complex in Round 5.
Wests coach Peter McLeod says the strength of the Collegians forwards and their crafty nature with the ball in hand will make for a challenging match come Saturday.
“Whenever Wests play Collies, it’s a tough game,” McLeod says. “We had a tough game last weekend out at Thirroul. With five or six minutes to go, the game was in hand last week, and Thirroul got it, so I reckon this one will go down to the last five or six minutes, so we’ll see what we learned from last week.”
Collies coach Peter Hooper believes his team is firming well for the clash and is proud of their efforts in gaining four hard-fought wins on the trot.
“They’ve got some really good strike in the centres, and they’ve got a really good forward pack that works hard.
“They’re not unlike our side, so I’m really looking forward to the contest on Saturday,” Hooper said in the lead-up to the match.
Elsewhere the Thirroul Butchers and Dapto Canaries meet at Dapto Showground, both coming off wins from last weekend, while De La Salle will travel to Ziems Park to face Corrimal.
In First Division, Helensburgh will look to repeat the dose of their win over Collegians last round when they take on a buoyant Corrimal outfit, who have won their last two matches after a long wait for a first victory.
The other matches will correspond to the Mojo Homes draw, with Dapto and Thirroul fighting for a top four spot and second-placed Collies looking to bridge the gap between them and ladder-leaders Wests.
In the Harrigan Shield, Avondale will take on Windang, Corrimal will battle first-placed Berkeley, and Figtree will look to consolidate their place inside the top two should they defeat Northern Suburbs.
Words | Russ Haylock