Group 20 Grand Final Preview: Waratahs claim ‘underdog’ status as Sharks look to complete fairytale run

Tallon Smith

Griffith Waratahs coach Brett Goldspink has claimed his side’s round 15 loss at Lake Cargelligo sees them enter Sunday’s Group 20 Grand Final at EW Moore Oval against Tullibigeal-Lakes United as underdogs.

After taking a narrow 28-26 win in their first match-up at the Exies Oval, the Tigers suffered a 26-20 loss to the Sharks in the return bout, one of only two losses the side has had so far this season.

Despite finishing the season as minor premiers and winning straight through to the grand final a fortnight ago, Goldspink was more than happy to give away the favourites tag.

“The way we see it, we’re the underdogs,” he said.

“They’re obviously going to have the whole town behind them, I think Lake Cargelligo will be a ghost town [this] weekend.

“We’re a small club, just come back out of recession three years ago, so we’re just a battling little club, so we’ve got our little supporters behind us, but other than that I think a lot of people will be cheering for Lakes.

“I’m sure they will be the crowd favourites, and obviously we’re only as good as our last game against them, and they beat us, so we consider ourselves the underdogs and we’ve got it all against us, but we’ll use that as a challenge and we’ll get out there and play our best football.”

Waratahs winger Fili Mahe looks to find a way past Sharks five-eighth Bobby Jones in their last meeting at Lake Cargelligo (Photo: Tallon Smith)

While the Sharks do have a statistical advantage over the Tigers this season with a 1-1 head-to-head record and a positive differential against them of +4, Waratahs’ statistical dominance across the campaign offers a resistance.

Just three years after returning from a season in recess, the Griffith outfit scored 523 points and conceded only 212 to amass a points differential of +311 on the way to a 14-2 regular season record.

The side then banished the demons of last season’s 20-point capitulation against Hay to down Yanco-Wamoon in the preliminary final and earn the club’s first grand final berth since 2019.

Now dreaming of ending a title drought dating back to their 2018 win over Yenda, Goldspink said Waratahs’ focus remains on their own game, though they will be paying plenty of attention to TLU’s halves pairing and forward pack.

“We’ve got to where we are just focusing on ourselves, and that won’t change,” he said.

“Lake are built on passion, obviously Jaden Kelly and Bobby Jones, they’re a quality combination, but I think Jado would be the first to say, he’s behind just a gutsy forward pack, and they keep going all day, so I think it’s unfair to single Jado out as the player to watch.

“As I said, we’ve just got to focus on our own game, get that right, and then we’ll let Lakes worry about us.”

Willie Lolohea gets an offload away during the sides’ last clash (Photo: Tallon Smith)

On the other hand, while it has been a long road for Waratahs to get back to the big dance, it has been just as hard for TLU to return to the top.

Since claiming their second title in four years in 2016, the Sharks have been one of the competition’s perennial battlers, finishing on the bottom of the ladder in 2019, and again in three straight seasons from 2021 to 2023.

Having finally reached the biggest game of the year again after defeating Yanco-Wamoon on Sunday, Sharks co-captain Jaden Kelly laughed off Goldspink’s suggestions that his side enters the match as favourites, and said he expects a tough game of football against the minor premiers.

“Waratahs are a very daunting task, they don’t beat themselves, they make you earn everything and it’s going to be a massive test,” he said.

“We’ve got to definitely be at our best to at least compete with them, they’ve been the benchmark all year and hopefully we can play well and make a contest of it.

“We’re under no illusions, they’ve been by far the best team all year and they’re going to be very hard to beat.”

Sharks winger Harry Anderson looks to step the Waratahs defence in round 15 (Photo: Tallon Smith)

Though their opponents proved dominant throughout the regular season, the Sharks can count themselves unlucky to not be undefeated against the Tigers this season, after going down by just two points in round six, before triumphing 26-20 in the return bout.

However, when asked if the side takes any confidence from that second result, Kelly said “not really”, with his reasoning being a number of key outs for Waratahs in that match.

“They had a couple of key players out, and we probably got them at a good time to be honest,” he said.

“They had some quality players out, so you obviously can only play who is on the field that day, but we know they’re going to be a much tougher outfit when they’ve got their full squad in, so we’re under no illusions.

“It’s going to be very tough, and we’re going to have to be at our best to even get near them, so we’ll see how we go.”

Warren Lloyd will lead the TLU pack into battle against the Waratahs on Sunday (Photo: Tallon Smith)

Grand Final History

Despite both teams having their share of success over the years, TLU and Waratahs have never previously contested a first grade grand final.

Waratahs are hunting their 14th premiership after previous wins in 1967, 1969, 1971-72, 1976-78, 1985, 2008, 2010, 2014-15 and 2018, while TLU is hunting its fourth crown, adding to victories in 1974, 2013 and 2016.

Previous Clashes

The Tigers and the Sharks have met twice this season, with the home side getting the spoils on each occasion.

Round 6: Griffith Waratahs 28 defeated Tullibigeal-Lakes United 26 at Exies Oval

Round 15: Tullibigeal-Lakes United 26 defeated Griffith Waratahs 20 at Lake Cargelligo Recreation Ground

The Battler’s Tip

Expect a physical match, as both sides look to gain dominance in the middle. I think it will be close, but the week off is massive for Waratahs, and I think they will just get over the line. Waratahs by 6. Barry Hails Medal: Kose Lelei (Waratahs).