RLMD Finals: Ultimate city-country rivalry as Magpies take on Sarina

Two of the strongest Rugby League Mackay and District sides will go head-to-head in the ultimate city v country clash that is one not to be missed. Read what the coaches had to say.

Magpies’ Cadence Matene (left) and Sarina’s Usaia Fonongaloa (right) are set to go head-to-head on Sunday.

Sunday’s RLMD qualifying semi-final is one rugby league game you won’t want to miss.

It’s Sarina v Magpies. Country v city. Blue-collar v white-collar.

That’s how Sarina coach Blake Brodel sees it.

“They’re fit and they’re fast, they train more,” Brodel said of the Mackay Magpies, with the clash between the sides to kick-off from 3pm on Sunday at the Mackay Junior Rugby League Grounds.

“They’re a city club that doesn’t harbour out of town workers, coal terminal workers, shift workers, and they’ve got everyone at training all the time.

“Sarina is a small country club, not with an endless amount of income like the city clubs have – with no disrespect to the city clubs at all.

“We’ve got a lot of workers, we’ve had people miss training and miss games because work comes first.

“They’ve been saving their annual leave and that up for the finals.”

Braydon Grant of Sarina in action. Picture: Supplied

Magpies coach Scott Thorburn wouldn’t buy into the debate.

“I understand what Blake’s trying to do, probably trying to stir up a little bit of blood or something,” Thorburn said with a laugh.

“A lot of our guys are blue-collar workers, they work out in the mines anyway.”

The Magpies pieced together a scintillating home and away season, finishing with an ominous 13-1 record to earn themselves a week off in the first week of finals.

Thorburn said it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We’ve been carrying a few injuries, it’s been good for our guys to have a bit of a break,” he said.

“We trained pretty hard on the weekend, a few of the boys probably wish we played instead of training.

“I don’t think fitness is going to be an issue, maybe game sharpness might be lacking a bit, that’s where Sarina are going to have the edge over us this weekend.

“They’ve put themselves in a really good position to have a good crack at us.”

As for the key to toppling the Crocs, Thorburn believes the match could be won and lost in the forward pack.

Augustus Rangihuna in action for Magpies. Picture: Supplied

“Our forwards are just going to have to do a good job of confronting their guys head on, they’ve got some big players, some big impact players that we need to contain early,” he said.

“They’re going to be really hard to beat. They’ve got the game under their belt from last week, if anything they’re going to hit the ground running, it might take us a while to get going.

“We’re expecting a pretty physical game from them.”

Sarina have also had a strong season, hitting their straps late to finish third and knock off Brothers 28-24 in last weekend’s qualifying final.

Brodel understands his Crocs have their work cut out for them on Sunday.

“Magpies are a tall task. We haven’t played them at full strength yet, we’ve had major outs,” Brodel said.

“Magpies have had major outs too and they keep on winning, so it goes to show they’ve got very strong depth.”

Brothers will face Moranbah beforehand in the elimination semi-final at 1pm.

Sarina will also take on Magpies in a cutthroat women’s elimination semi-final.