Coaches' call: Hostplus Cup Finals Week 3 preview

Author: Rikki-Lee Arnold Statewide content producer
Timestamp: Fri 13 Sep 2024, 08:21 AM

Two teams will be named the 2024 Hostplus Cup grand finalists this weekend.

Northern Pride and Redcliffe Dolphins will meet on Saturday in the first blockbuster preliminary final at Barlow Park, with the winner advancing to the premiership decider on Sunday, September 22, at Redcliffe's Kayo Stadium.

Then on Sunday, Norths Devils and PNG Hunters will clash at Bishop Park, in a highly-anticipated showdown to earn the other ticket into this year's grand final.

Here are what the coaches had to say ahead of Finals Week 3.

Hostplus Cup Finals Week 3

Northern Pride v Redcliffe Dolphins

Northern Pride coach Eric Smith: Nothing has changed for us except for not playing a game last weekend. We've spent the last week training how we would normally and the boys are feeling nice and fresh. We still got plenty of work done - we knew there were areas we need to be better at and more consistent at this weekend. We have the Dolphins this Saturday and it was pretty clear for everyone to see they came out with a real point to prove last week. They've spoken around how their forwards didn't stand up against Norths and it was quite the opposite against the Capras. They were fast and aggressive and took the game away in the first 25 minutes. I'm expecting something similar this weekend. We know teams that played us in the weeks leading up to finals - Falcons and Bears in particular - they've started fast, hard and aggressive and got out to leads. We know that's coming again this weekend. They're a really big team and a physical team. Josh Kerr has been a massive plus and a massive body with really good leg speed through the middle. He adds quite a bit. Obviously Trai Fuller will drop back into that side from NRL, Latrell Siegwalt will drop back in from suspension... It's a real classy outfit. We know we've got our hands full. At this time of year, if you're still alive and playing games, you don't expect anything less. You're here and still fighting because your part of the best. There's no easy games anymore and you need to play your best for long periods if you want to get the win.

Redcliffe Dolphins coach Ben Te'o: In week one of the finals, I didn't feel our performance was a true representation of our team and the players all felt that as well. It was an embarrassment they wanted to bounce back from. We ran into a red hot team with the Capras at full strength last week and it was a great battle. The forward pack felt dominated by Norths and it was important to them to step up last week but this week it's a whole new experience, travelling up to Cairns. We've just got a team at the moment that has a lot of battle scars, had a lot of ups and downs. We've rebuilt this side plenty of times and everyone is really excited to go up north and challenge the best team in the comp. The Pride are clearly the best team in the comp, the table says so, so it's our chance to come up and put in our best performance. They're big, dominant, well-coached, well-drilled. There's a lot of talent and they've shown how dominant they are at this level. We've got our work cut out for us.

Broadcast: Qplus.tv, Kayo Freebies

Finals Week 3 - Finals Week 3 - Saturday 14 Sep

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Pride

Dolphins

Venue: Barlow Park, Cairns

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Norths Devils v PNG Hunters

Norths Devils coach Dave Elliott: Preparation's been good. We were able to use that bye week to freshen some guys up and to adjust some loads and volumes for guys carrying niggles. We've continued to work hard and had a Saturday session despite earning the weekend off. The boys responded really well to that. This week's then been a normal week for us. It's been quality over quantity and we're looking forward to Sunday. The first thing we're expecting this weekend is a lot of support for the Hunters. Going to the Falcons game last week, there was a lot of support up there for PNG and, being in the southeast corner, it's easy to come watch the game this Sunday. In terms of the Hunters, they're one of the most consistent footy teams in the competition and there's a large reason as to why they're still in the preliminary finals stages. They play a tough brand of footy and have the ability to move the footy. Everyone knows how good Judah Rimbu is going at the moment, plus Sanny Wabo... they're excitement machines. We have to be right on our game. Last time they came here, they beat us. It will be a big challenge for us. For us, we need to back up our performance against Redcliffe. We played some really good footy and defended really well in that game. The last time we played PNG, we didn't go after our contact well enough and we paid the price for that on that day. It's stepping up to the physicality and doing it together.

PNG Hunters coach Paul Aiton: The most pleasing thing last week was definitely how we handled ourselves in defence. We were really patient in defence and attack. We were really calm and we spoke about that beforehand - being calm and connected. We did it for each other and just played simple footy. I was happy they executed what we talked about. We have quite a few injuries from it though so this week, it's about continuing to keep things very simple. I feel like we get more confidence when we do that. Out of this finals competition, this will be our hardest game. It's one before the grand final and we're expecting a really tough match. We're expecting a big, tough game from both teams. I have a feeling there's going to be quite a few people at Bishop Park, which is good, we like that. Both teams will feed off it.

Broadcast: Qplus.tv, Kayo Freebies, 9Now

Finals Week 3 - Finals Week 3 - Sunday 15 Sep

Full Time