IT’S one of the most unique conundrums a coach will ever face – how do you get your side up for a grand final a week after winning one?
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Luckily for the newly crowned Intrust Super Premiership kings, Illawarra coach Jason Demetriou has navigated such a week before, steering the Northern Pride to victory in the inaugural State Championship clash two years ago.
Ipswich made it 2-0 for the Queensland Cup with a win over Newcastle last season and Burleigh will be keen to continue that run on Sunday. Demetriou – who was named ISP Coach of the Year last week –won’t temper his side’s premiership celebrations this week but will remind them how rarely such opportunities come along.
“I think it’s about celebrating what we’ve done, there’s no doubt about that,” Demetriou told Dragons TV.
“We want to celebrate this and enjoy it but it's a big stage to play on NRL grand final day in the pre-game to the NRL in front of 30-40,000 people. Some of these guys will never do that [again] so it’s important they recognise that and get out there and represent our state, our competition and most importantly ourselves.”
The Cutters will ride a hell of a wave into the state championship clash having claimed the club’s first premiership by a single point courtesy of a Drew Hutchison field goal on Sunday.
Mounties half Sam Williams provided some nervous moments as he attempted two late equalisers but, having produced numerous tight wins through the season, Demetriou was always confident his side would get over the line.
“I knew Drewie would kick it. He kicked plenty through the week [at training] and didn’t miss one,” Demetriou said.
“One thing you know is he’s not going to do fall short he hits them that hard. I thought the kick pressure on Williams was really good as well, to find that effort in the dying stages, and he’s slotted plenty before.
“Mounties have been such a fantastic team all year so I knew it was going to take a herculean effort for us to get over them. We have been the best team in the competition over the final 20 minutes...we always talk about that, we don’t give up or break and we showed that on the day.”