Sport
Shepparton Bulls are stomping their feet ahead of Victorian Rugby Premiership grand final
Shepparton Bulls are in the throes of forging a dynasty.
With some pun intended, this weekend, the Bulls will parade into their second consecutive Dynasty Sport Premiership grand final under the Rugby Victoria banner in search of back-to-back titles.
And if Saturday’s game is anything like last year’s one-point, last-gasp finale, it won’t be one to miss.
The Bulls surged back against Kiwi Hawthorn late in the piece with a slick pick and carry move to cross the try line and run out 24-23 victors at Box Hill Rugby Club, inciting a green and blue wave cresting onto the field at full-time.
Will it happen again when Moronae Silaga’s side takes on Geelong Rams in this year’s final?
Using the last meeting as a yardstick, doing so will be hard-earned.
The Bulls fell to Geelong 5-0 in a cagey final home and away round affair, but Silaga knew his boys weren’t at their best that day.
“The last time we played we lost to Geelong, so I reckon it’s going to be a tough battle,” he said.
“We were pretty off the whole game, especially the first half. For 40 minutes we only got to carry the ball six times and every time we had the ball we just gave it back to Geelong.
“We were pretty much just defending the whole game and we didn’t even have the ball which make it hard to try and do what we usually do — which is score tries.
“I know we’ve got nothing to lose again, we’re very excited — so that’s exactly what we’re going to do, enjoy our game and do what we can.”
Despite the narrow defeat to Geelong, the Bulls clinched back-to-back minor premierships and punched their ticket to the big dance with a 22-13 triumph over Brimbank in last weekend’s semi-final.
The Bulls’ impressive 11-3 season record was narrowly surpassed by the Rams’ 12-2.
However, bonus points and percentages allowed the Bulls to tick off their first goal of finishing the home and away season in first.
But one task still remains.
“We wanted to defend the title, it’s exactly what we had planned and we wanted to win the minor premiership,” he said.
“This season, all the teams improved from last year, so it was a tough challenge for us, but it’s a challenge we wanted to come on top of. We want to get the results for the boys.
“We really have a good playing group right now; we improved from last year and so have the other teams in the competition, but we’re very happy with the way we performed.”
A largely unchanged line-up from last season, bar two or three changes, has permitted the Bulls to retain a tight-knit synergy from their glowing 2023 campaign.
All season long, the Shepparton side has looked almost untouchable.
And heading into the final, Silaga singled out electric fullback Danny Patea and skilful centre Kitione Seruisavou as potential game-breakers when push comes to shove in the final.
But it’ll take more than two to get over the line against Geelong.
It’s the Bulls against the Rams. Bovine versus ovine.
And Silaga’s men are ready.
“We’re going to do the best we can, we’re going to enjoy this one this year no matter what happens,” he said.