Ultimate preview: Thirroul and Collegians set to lock horns in Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup grand final 2023
The stage is set for Collegians and Thirroul to do lock horns in the Illawarra Cup final. Hear from the coaches and captains on the key battles in the final, players to watch, injury news and more.
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The stage is set for the final dance in the Illawarra Cup 2023 season, with Collegians and Thirroul set to face off in the grand final at WIN Stadium this weekend.
Defending premiers Collegians are looking to go back-to-back-to-back having taken out last two premierships in 2022 and 2019, while Thirroul are looking for their first grand final victory since 2014.
It’s a battle between two competition heavyweights that have dominated the modern day Illawarra Cup competition, with either Thirroul or Collegians appearing in 18 of the 21 grand finals since the turn of the century, combining for 11 wins in that period.
Only time will tell who will emerge victorious in this epic clash of titans, for now though here’s everything you need to know ahead of the clash.
Collegians
Collegians finished runners up in the regular season in 2023 with 11 wins from 15 and are fresh off a week off after defeating De La Salle in the major semi final.
The Collie Dogs have emerged victorious in all three of the meetings between the sides so far this season and to the neutral eye would be considered the favourites ahead of the weekend’s big game.
Fresh at the helm of the head coach role in 2023 is Peter Hooper who has done his best in filling the three-time premiership-winning shoes of former Collegians coach Nathan Fien.
Hooper says that retaining a lot of the core squad from premiership winning sides of the past years made his life easy in the first year in charge.
“Keeping that same nucleus of the playing group and keeping that experience of winning this competition was great in getting us here,” Hooper said.
“Each grand final is just as special, all the boys who were there last year are just as revved up for this one.”
Leading the Collegians into battle will be Blake Phillips who is looking to win an incredible fifth Illawarra Cup after grand final glory in 2015 with Helensburgh and 2017, 2019 and 2022 with Collegians.
Despite five trips to the summit, captain Phillips admits he still gets the butterflies in his stomach come grand final week.
“As soon as I knew we were in the grand final, it started playing on my mind all of last week,” Phillips said.
“You try to block it out but it’s still in the back of your mind what’s at stake and what you have to do to win it.
“It’s a huge privilege and something I’m very fond of to be in another grand final with Collegians, they’ve put in a lot of faith in me through the years so it’d be great to return it to them and get another win.”
There’s nothing but respect and admiration for Phillips around the club and the league for his leadership and dedication to the game as he looks to cement his name in Illawarra Cup folklore this weekend.
“He’s our leader for a reason,” Hooper said about his captain.
“Some people lead through actions and some through words, he does both.
“His credentials speak for themselves, he seems to build at the back end of the year as well.”
Team news:
Barring an ACL injury that put an end to Alec Reid’s season early this year, Collegians are full strength coming into the match.
Sam McCann leads the league for tries scored with a whopping 19, with gun fullback Callum Gromek not too far behind with 13 in his rookie season.
Halves combination Zeik Foster and Max Devlin seem to work on the same wavelength come the big occasion, as they showed in last year’s grand final.
Collegians’ middle men are also set for huge games this weekend, with the Dowel brothers Blake and Josh, as well as veteran forward Jarrod Thompson all tireless workers through the middle of the park.
Thirroul
Thirroul finished in fourth on the ladder, picking up just 7 wins from 15 games in what was a hit or miss season.
Despite three losses to Collegians in 2023, Thirroul coach Jarrod Costello dismissed the underdog tag that would be given to the Butchers in the final.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re favourites or underdogs on grand final day, it’s about whoever plays the best footy over 80 minutes,” Costello said.
“We had a few losses along the way but getting here was no surprise, we knew our best footy was good enough to get us here and to win the comp.
“The belief never wavered in these blokes, I’ve coached with them and against a lot of them for a while now and I know how strong-willed they are.”
Costello has experienced the disappointment of grand final day when his side went down by just two points to Western Suburbs in 2018.
Another player on that side that day was current captain Hayden Crossland, lining up on the wing back then but well at home in the second row these days.
This will be his first grand final with the captain’s armband on, following the Crossland heritage led by father Darryl Crossland who had a good career with the Illawarra Steelers before captaining and coaching the Butchers, but was unable to secure an Illawarra Cup premiership.
“Definitely a really proud moment for me, winning a competition is the main goal for any football so I’m personally really excited and winning it would mean a hell of a lot more,” Crossland said.
“We haven’t really been dwelling on those losses [to Collegians] this year, we feel like we’re a different team now.
“Last time they beat us on the buzzer and since then all we’ve done is improve.
“It’s going to be tough of course, they have plenty of grand final experience in their side, but we’ve got a good attitude and we’re confident that our best will be good enough.”
Team news:
There’s promising news on the injury front for Thirroul, with Crossland reporting that veteran fullback Wayne Bremner is looking on track to return after suffering an injury against De La Salle last week.
Bremner has announced this could be his last match before hanging up the boots, with Crossland saying the club will “give him every chance” to kit up in the no. 1 jersey on the weekend.
Meanwhile, top try scorer Joshua Martin is looking on track to get positive clearance after picking up a head knock.
Should he bet fit then Collegians best keep an eye on Thirroul’s left flank that has proved deadly with the Steven Marsters and Josh Martin combination out wide.
Harry Leddy is coming off his best performance of the season last week against De La Salle, looking to carry that form into the final.
Jarrod Boyle is looking for a fourth Illawarra Cup and seems to be clicking with halves partner Tarje Whitford at the right time of the year.
The Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup grand final is set to take place at 3pm September 2 at WIN Stadium.
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