Rugby League Central Coast: Rival skippers face off in grand final farewell
A couple of local footy stalwarts will look to bow out with a fairytale finish when they line up in this weekend’s RLCC grand final.
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A couple of local rugby league stalwarts will be looking to finish their careers in the best possible fashion this weekend when Toukley and Erina clash in the Rugby League Central Coast grand final on Saturday.
With the script seemingly written for them, Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick and Erina skipper Joel Frazer will both hang up the boots after the game and have the chance put an end to their stellar careers with a grand final win.
“It’s all part of the plan,” laughed Fitzpatrick. “I don’t know how it’s panned out this way but I couldn’t be happier to be able to retire in a grand final. Most people dream of that and I’m lucky enough to get to do it. I can’t believe it.”
After captaining his beloved Hawks to their first ever premiership in 2022 and then backing it up with a second grand final victory last year, Fitzpatrick has the chance to lead Toukley to its third-straight premiership.
“I go back to the first grand final we were in and remember waking up that day thinking, ‘Imagine if this is the only one we ever have?’ and I’m a part of it,” said the 33-year-old playmaker.
“And now to think we’re into our third one in three years. For a community club like Toukley to do this, it’s unbelievable.”
While Fitzpatrick is looking to go out in a blaze of glory and really etch Toukley’s name into the record books, there is a sense of redemption driving Erina prop Frazer, who is hoping to finish on a high after losing the last two grand finals to the Hawks.
“I’m a little bit nervous. I feel like we’ve been in this position a couple of times and it hasn’t quite gone our way but I’m hoping for a different result this time,” he said.
“I’ve been unfortunate to lose another one on top of the other two,” he added, pointing out that current coach Dane Allen was in the Berkeley Vale team that knocked over Erina in 2013 grand final.
“It’s been a long learning curve for me and I guess I’m just not taking it for granted. We’ve had a very good side, probably the best side in the comp on paper, I think, the last few grand finals but that means bugger all when it comes down to it.
“You just can’t clock off in a grand final. We’ve had moments where we go in and out of the game and you just can’t afford to do that, so we’ll be pushing for a full 80-minute performance this time round and hopefully we can come up trumps.”
Both skippers are desperate to go out a winner on the back of their long histories with their respective clubs.
Frazer first joined the Eagles as a 15-year-old back in 2004, and despite having a couple of short stints at Berkeley Vale and Kincumber, has played the bulk of his career in the tricolours.
“My heart’s definitely always been with Erina and it always will be,” he said.
Meanwhile Fitzpatrick is the ultimate Toukley boy. Starting as a four-year-old back in the mid-90s, the Hawks skipper has spent the best part of 30 years going to and from Darren Kennedy Oval. And although he spent some time with Canterbury in the old Toyota Cup and played for The Entrance in Sydney-based competitions, he returned to lead his local club to glory in recent years.
And while the pair have still got plenty of passion for the jersey and are both playing good footy, there was a common thread behind their reasons to hang up the boots.
“The body’s certainly copped its fair share over the years,” said Frazer, who turns 35 next week. “There was a time when I would play rugby union on Saturday and then league on the Sunday and then go off to work on Monday fine. But now I play 50-60 minutes and I’m absolutely wrecked for the whole week. I come good Saturday and then get back into it on the Sunday,” he added.
“I’ve been very vocal on the ‘no contact’ over the past couple of weeks at training. I’ve been doing zero contact at training, just running.”
It’s a sentiment Fitzpatrick agrees with.
“But my body’s taking longer to recover, the middle period after work and before training gets tougher and tougher. But in saying that, when I wake up every Sunday it’s my favourite day of the week, so that’ll be hard – waking up on Sunday and there’s no footy anymore.”
And although the pair did play a season together for the Eagles in 2019, they have spent the best part of 15 years lining up against each other – and share a great sense of mutual respect.
“Unfortunately one of us is not gonna get the fairytale ending, but he’s a great competitor, a great leader,” Frazer said of Fitzpatrick. “What he’s done over there at Toukley these last few seasons is phenomenal and I’m sure he’ll turn up and their fans will turn up ready to go on Saturday.”
Meanwhile the Toukley skipper has been amazed at his rival’s longevity in the middle.
“It’s funny, it was only the other day that I thought ‘How long is he gonna keep going for?’” said Fitzpatrick. “Some blokes are just built differently to others.”
He added: “I’ve played against ‘Fraze’ for years, ever since I was 17 and made my first grade debut – and he’s a really good fella.”
And while all grand finals are special, there are a couple of milestones that make this Saturday’s clash particularly special.
For Erina, the club has the chance to win its first A-grade premiership since 1991 and in the process break the longest-running drought in the first grade competition.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be the skipper this season, it’s something I take great pride in and I’d be very proud to captain the first premiership-winning side for Erina in 30-odd years,” said Frazer. “It’d be a great achievement and is something I’ll be aiming to do.”
Meanwhile for Toukley, the club has the chance to win its third premiership in a row, a feat that hasn’t been achieved for around 70 years since an Ourimbah side won five-straight titles between 1951 and 1955.
“No club’s done it in the modern era and if we’re going back to the 50s, then far out, it’s a very difficult thing to achieve,” said Fitzpatrick. “So for Toukley to give themselves that opportunity to be able to do that is crazy.”
TOUKLEY, ERINA PREPARE FOR ROUND THREE
Toukley and Erina will continue their remarkable recent rivalry this Saturday when both sides clash in their third-straight Rugby League Central Coast grand final at Morry Breen Oval.
Following Wyong and The Entrance’s decision to field teams in Newcastle Rugby League’s Denton Engineering Cup in the past couple of seasons, the Hawks and Eagles have emerged as the premier sides in the local first grade competition.
And while not traditional rivals or competition heavyweights, the two sides have developed an exciting level of competitiveness that has brought the competition alive.
“It’s become a great rivalry,” said Toukley captain-coach Jake Fitzpatrick. “Ten years ago you probably didn’t see this sort of thing coming, I know I didn’t.
“Erina, once again, have been the benchmark all year. The same as last year, the same as the year before.”
It’s a sentiment shared across the board.
“Without coming across as arrogant, I spoke to ‘Fitzy’ on Monday and we were sort of saying how the rivalry amongst the two clubs is super respectful but has also been a bit of a driving force that has sort of kept Central Coast footy afloat for the last few years,” said Erina coach Dane Allen.
“Without that really strong rivalry and closeness between the two teams, Central Coast footy could have gone down the gurgler. I think that’s been a really big part of what’s kept it alive.”
And while it has been fiercely competitive on the field, both clubs agree that the rivalry has been played in the right spirit.
“When Toukley wasn’t in the comp there were a lot of Toukley guys who came to Erina, so there’s a really healthy mutual respect between us and Toukley,” said Allen.
“But once we hit the field it’s all guns blazing and the boys rip in. After the game, they’re the first blokes to acknowledge when they’ve been beaten and certainly appreciate the style of footy if you win. And vice-versa, we’ve got a healthy respect for each other but it’s no hold bars once we get on the field with each other,” he added.
“They’re a good bunch of blokes and we’ve got a really good rivalry.”
THE STATS BEHIND THE RIVALRY
And while Toukley has grabbed all the headlines by downing Erina in the last two grand finals, the overall picture is much more complicated.
Indeed, it certainly hasn’t been one-way traffic, with the Eagles taking out two minor premierships to Toukley’s one over the past three seasons.
Ahead of Saturday’s big grand final, we’ve crunched the numbers to see how both sides shape up against each other during this period of dominance.
From the beginning of 2022 until now, Toukley has played 47 games, of which it was won 36, drawn one and lost 10, for a winning percentage of 76.6.
As for Erina, although it hasn’t lifted the trophy on grand final day, the team has been exceptional over the past three years: winning 35 games, drawing two and losing just seven times across its 44 fixtures for a winning percentage of 79.5. If the team’s two forfeits from 2024 are included as losses, as per the competition ladder, then the winning percentage edges down to 76.1.
While the winning records are very similar, a breakdown of other stats highlights some of the key differences between the teams and how they approach the game.
Highly regarded for their attractive brand of attacking footy, the Eagles have piled on 1373 points and conceded just 583, for an overall points difference of 790. This averages out to a scoreline of 31-13 per game over the past three seasons.
Toukley, on the other hand, has asserted its dominance through rock-solid defence and an incredible forward pack.
Despite playing three more games, the Hawks have scored 221 fewer points than Erina at 1152. And although the team has played 240 additional minutes of football, it has conceded just four more points at 587, asserting itself as the best defensive side in the competition with an average scoreline of 25-12 per game.
And while Erina’s overall record may slightly edge Toukley’s, it’s clear that the Hawks have the advantage when it comes to head-to-head clashes and, in particular, big games.
Toukley holds a five-wins-to-four advantage over Erina, and has crucially defeated the Eagles in two grand finals and one major semi-final. In contrast, while performing better across the regular season, Erina’s big-game record against the Hawks includes just one major semi-final win, recorded last season, and three losses.
The clashes have by and large been tight affairs, with seven of the nine games decided by eight points or less. Indeed, in a head-to-head record over the past three seasons, Toukley edges Erina 144-126 in terms of points scored.
And while Erina might have the better winning percentage and Toukley the edge in finals matches, those involved in the grand final have been quick to play down any significance the past might have when they run onto the field on Saturday.
“We only have six or seven players who were there last year and I think there’s only two who will play in all three,” said Allen.
“It’s a brand-new side. I know Toukley’s team’s very similar but for us there are no demons there because it’s a completely different team. It’s also a significantly younger team and we all know what youth brings – they don’t get scared by too much.
“It’d be off the mark a bit to say we’re thinking about the last couple of years because most of these blokes haven’t been there. The two guys who’ve been there for the last couple would have obviously learned from it, but the others, not so much.”
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