The State Association reserve grade Grand Final will be the curtain raiser at O’Callaghan Park on Saturday as the UQ Red Lions and Caloundra fight for the first piece of silverware of the day. Caloundra had a comfortable 27 point win over Coorparoo last week and managed to hold them to just 3 goals for the day. The UQ Red Lions, like their senior team mates, enjoyed a week off after a commanding 68 point win over the Panthers in the second Semi Final. The Red Lions have only lost one game this year in a shock defeat to Yeronga in round four. Since then they have been untouchable, including their games against Caloundra.
This week everything else goes out the window because, as is the case with reserve grade finals, the Caloundra senior team was eliminated last week, leaving the door open for players to drop back and fill in for the day. This ‘unknown’ factor will cause UQ much distress in their preparations, as the side they played two weeks ago won’t be the same as the side they face on Saturday. The Red Lions deserve to be favourites heading into this one but this will certainly be a brutal contest. UQ will want to give their senior counterparts a lift to start the day, and the Panthers are sure to make the most of their only Grand Final appearance for the year. This is sure to be an intriguing game and a fitting way to start proceedings on what should be an entertaining day of football.
