After coming back from the brink, trailing by 20 points, to sink reigning champions Past Brothers 44-24 in the qualifying final, Wallaroos are the form team of the competition.
It was their eighth victory in their past nine starts, with 20-year-old winger Lucas Kemble bagging three tries and his cousin Jorden Kemble landing six conversions.
But they will not be able to afford a slow start again when they meet Waves Tigers in the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership major semi-final at Salter Oval at 6pm Saturday.
The two teams finished equal on 22 points, but the Tigers claimed the minor premiership on points differential. However, 'Roos have had the edge on them in 2024, beating them twice in their three clashes, including a convincing 32-16 victory in the penultimate round of the regular season on August 3.
Waves are on a three-match losing streak after also going down to Wests a week earlier and suffering a shock 46-30 defeat at the hands of Hervey Bay Seagulls three weeks ago, before the bye weekend for the Bulldogs v Dolphins NRL game, and not having to play last week by virtue of finishing on top of the table.
Tigers coach Antonio Kaufusi is not concerned that they have not won since July 20, and he is confident they will advance directly to the grand final after being bundled out in the preliminary final for the past two years - the first after also finishing on top of the table.
Two of their stars, winger Mitchell Clayton and halfback Brendan Grills, will not return from serious injuries this season but Kaufusi is certain they can cover those big losses.
“I’m really happy with our preparation over the last three weeks – even with the rain, we managed to train, and I’ve been really happy with the efforts and buy in," Kaufusi said.
"The boys look pretty dialed in, there is a different feeling, and it is showing in our training sessions, and they are ready to rip in on Saturday.
“Three losses in three weeks is not ideal, but at the same time, it has given us something to really focus on, and I’m not too worried to be fair. At the end of the day, it’s a new comp now, and the reality is we can play one game to get straight into the grand final.
“We addressed what happened the last two years at the start of the year and that has been our big focus, and now we’ve got the chance to get those things right and come out with a victory this week.
“Captain Maughny (Reece Maughan)’s leadership has been outstanding all season and the other members of the leadership group have also supported him well, Brendan Grills, Lachy Patterson, Kiya Schnabel, Sam Tobin and James Brosnan.
“We are under no illusion - this will be a tough game – they have got some very good players such as Maurice Blair, hooker Jesse Robertson, Shaun Collins, and some young guys like Kyle Knight, who I had in the Mel Meninga Cup – he is tough.
"They came second for a reason and they will be up for it too – they have the same equation as well – win and they are through to the grand final.
“But I go back to our preparation leading up to this game. It has been the best all year, and I have a lot of confidence and hope that the boys will convert that to a good game on Saturday.”
Brothers scored in the first set against 'Roos and went on to establish a 20-4 lead in the 26th minute.
They were also first to score in the second half, but Roos picked themselves up off the canvas and stormed home with an unanswered 40 points in better than even time. Long-serving coach Scott Robertson always knew they could do it.
“Brothers tried too hard to shut (captain and powerhouse lock) Bailey (Robertson) down and it cost them – but the turning point was when I brought (35-year-old stalwart) Dave Ball off the bench," Robertson said.
"When an old head came on, we got back to being level-headed. I asked him for 15 minutes but he gave me 27 and once we connected with (hooker) Jesse (Robertson), we owned the middle."
Robertson knows they will not be able to give Waves anything like such a jump, but he is “quietly confident” with another vintage veteran centre Shaun Collins returning, replacing Bruce Waia, who suffered a head injury last week.
“Our biggest worry is Jesse (Robertson) being under an injury cloud with a badly infected knee, but hopefully he can play, but either way, if we can hold them in the middle, I think we will be okay,” he said.
Meanwhile, Brothers are in danger of their title defence being ended as they try to bounce back from last week’s implosion when they come up against last year’s beaten grand finalists Wests Panthers in the minor semi-final at 4.15pm.
The Panthers toughed out a 28-22 elimination final triumph over the Seagulls with doubles to highly potent centres Zander Kerr and Bruce Ikamanu, and they will be bolstered by the return of captain and forwards lynchpin Dan Tanner from suspension.
They have had the wood on the Brethren this campaign, beating them in two of their three meetings, including a comprehensive 34-8 blitz on August 3.
But Brothers coach Andrew Hamilton said they had put last week behind them, and he is confident they can bounce back, with 2022 player of the grand final and enforcer Max Shorter returning to the side after missing the first week of finals due to work commitments.
“Last week, we were a young team learning their trade and things just fell apart after a great start,” Hamilton said.
“Everyone knows we have to fix up our defence, but if we do that and play to our best, I know we can beat anyone.”
Panthers coach Corey Tanner also expects the Brethren to be fired up to redeem themselves.
“I’m sure 'Hamo' will have them ready, but the key to beating Brothers is we just need to worry about ourselves and play our style of footy and live and die by that - we won’t be changing much,” Tanner said.
“We add Dan Tanner back in this week, which will be a major plus for us.
“Last week’s game was tough and I have spoken to our group this week that we need to up the ante again.
"It will be a dog fight but like we have done all year backs against the wall and we won’t be taking a backward step. If we get a fair share of the footy then we just need to capitalise on those opportunities.”
Waves will also contest the under 18 and reserve grade major semi-finals as minor premiers, both against Brothers, while Seagulls will contest the minor semis in both those grades against 'Roos and Easts Magpies respectively.
