Casuarina Cougars believe they can beat South Darwin Rabbitohs in Darwin Rugby Union Grand Final

GETTING the one percenters right is the motto in the Casuarina Cougars camp ahead of their 2020-21 Darwin A-grade Rugby Union Grand Final clash against South Darwin on Saturday night.

South Darwin's Brad Hunt and Casuarina’s Zach Phillips before the 2020-21 Darwin Rugby Union Grand Final. Picture: Glenn Campbell

GETTING the one percenters right is the motto in the Casuarina Cougars camp ahead of their 2020-21 Darwin A-grade Rugby Union Grand Final clash against South Darwin on Saturday night.

The Cougars last grabbed hold of the premiership trophy in 2013 despite consistently strong showings in the interim period.

And after a heartbreaking post-siren defeat to Darwin Dragons in the 2020 grand final the Cougars are eager to redeem themselves and reclaim the throne.

Cougars and Souths are two games each in head-to-head meetings so far this season, with three of those four meetings within a score.

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However, it was the Bunnies who had the most recent triumph with a 27-22 win in the major semi-final, forcing Casuarina into a tough preliminary final match against Dragons.

With that final now behind them the Cougars, under captain Zach Phillips who provides a steady kicking influence, are eager for another go at Souths and at the grand final.

“Everyone is really excited and keen to get out there and show them what we’re made of,” Phillips said.

“Nothing has changed much, it’s just been about making sure we do everything as a team as everything we do is for the better of the team.

“We’ve made a few finals and bombed out of a few but it’s awesome that we’re back in there and we’re really keen to redeem ourselves after losing in the last minute last season.

“I’ve been really proud of the boys getting back there. Back to back seasons has been tough but we rallied late in the season to make it through.

“It’s going to be some tough rugby from Souths, they have some big boys and love to bash it up the middle and have the boys out wide as well.

“We just need to play our game, we’re two wins each this season so we just need to play our game and get all the little things and one percenters right on the day.”

In the forwards, Matt Travers has stepped up as a real leader in the pack with a commanding presence from the second row.

Casuarina captain Zach Phillips. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Flankers Jarrod Northam and Martin Strachan hit hard in both offence and defence while Alani Malupo has presented himself as another strong option on the ball.

Simaika Salaa and Cooper Segeyaro are consistent running threats for the side with their ability to expose overlaps.

Coach Joe Albert was impressed with how his side had prepared for the big game.

“We’re definitely up for the goods. The boys are keen and put in a lot of hours this week to try and be the best they can be for it,” Albert said.

“The big focus for us has been building that confidence and trust. We have our game plan unique to how we play so it’s about having trust in everyone to do their roles.

“Over the past four years we’ve had plenty of opportunities to take out the comp but we missed out to one percent errors and that has been a massive focus of ours throughout the year.

“In the past month the one percenters have really come into play where we’ve had to close out games and we’re hoping to draw on that again in the final.”