In what has been an extraordinarily tight Queensland Premier Rugby men's first grade competition, it all comes down to this.
Beat Wests and we survive.
It promises to be an enthralling battle at The Canal.
Beforehand, our Colts 1 boys already have a top two berth wrapped up a week out from finals but there's still plenty to play for with a potential Minor Premiership up for grabs.
And later in the day our Premier Women will look to bounce after their tough loss to Sunnybank. They have a shot at a Minor Premiership too.
In between times, don't forget about our lower grades with Second and Third Grade Men, Colts 2, and Second Grade Women all in the finals mix.
The opposition
Wests are a side full of professional players from across the globe. This means they are big, fit and fast! The downside of this for them is that they can sometimes lack a bit of cohesion and connectedness.
The challenge
Containing their “big name” strike power. Joiji Nasova, Isoa Tuwai are two Fiji Drua players who will be difficult to contain.
Shuffling the magnets
Deon Evans is expected to come back in to the lineup after resting his knee injury last weekend.
Ones to watch
Ryan Nankevill was very impressive at fly-half in his 1st Grade run-on debut. He is a run, pass, kick threat to the opposition.
The focus
Defence is the key. We have the ability to score plenty of points, but we must restrict Wests to under 30 points to be a genuine chance of winning this game.
Final word
The finals have come a week early for us. This game is essentially a Quarter Final, with the reward being a Semi Final next week.
-with Sean Hedger, General Manager of Rugby
Premier Women
The opposition
Wests are locked into the top three spots in the competition and have been consistently there the last few years. They’ve been consistently there the last few years and were minor premiers last year – they went through the whole season unbeaten until we beat them in the semis.
The challenge
Wests play very similar to us. In the past, they’ve been a team that have challenged most teams in and around the breakdown area so that’s going to be a key area on the weekend. If you’re on the attack, it’s about generating fast ruck speed and if you’re on the defence, you want to slow it down and allow your defensive line to get set and be able to provide pressure. Whoever dominates the ruck is probably going to come out the right side of the ledger.
Shuffling the magnets
We’re still shuffling the magnets in terms of availability and unavailability. There will be some changes in the team this week - some of them have been forced on us with unavailability but also with a view to try and build some cohesion with the group that we’ll end up using for finals.
The focus
Seven day is a long time between games so the first thing will be to get a positive result to build confidence into finals.
Ones to watch
We’ve got some athletes in our squad who are on the cusp of potential Wallaroos selection so it’s their last chance to impress before the squad getting names early next week. There will be plenty of selectors eyeballs on our game this weekend so it’s an opportunity for the girls in the frame for selection to put their best foot forward.
Finals word
There are little areas where we can be better, like our goal kicking. Though Sunnybank dominated the physicality and collision areas last week, it was still four tries all and the only difference was the goalkicking. We just want to put our best foot forward so that requires us to review and implement some changes that are going to ensure we produce a better quality than we put out last week.
It's the last home game of the season, the last time we play at The Canal for 2026 so we want to make sure we end our home season with a W and send our fans home happy.
-with Setu Naseri, Head Coach Premier Women’s
Colts 1
The Opposition
Wests are another one of those teams where their position doesn't reflect where they're going. They beat the top of the table last week so our thoughts were confirmed that they are a very good side and we believe they'll be coming to Bond looking to finish the year on positive – to knock over first and second in two weeks and take away a positive into the next season.
The challenge
They've got a good forward pack so it will be a great challenge for forwards and they've got a bit of speed out wide so that will be yet another good challenge for our team as we head into bigger and better.
Shuffling the magnets
Jonah Rangiwai and Kobi Nouanrasy are back in. Max Angove will have a week off through injury, he’s just got a minor strain in his hamstring.
Ones to watch
Tevita Tima has come in for Max. He came off the bench at half time on Saturday and he’s starting to see his true potential at a Colts 1 level.
The focus
We are focusing on this week and this week only. It’s our last home game and we want to finish the year off strongly at home in front of our supporters and friends.
Final word
Five players have been selected in the Queensland Reds Under 19 Team so that’s a huge positive leading into our last week.