The University of Wollongong women's rugby team is just one game away from a fairytale finish, only two months after their Illawarra rugby dream was shattered.
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On Saturday the UOW Mallee Bulls will be gunning to win the Jack Scott Cup when they play Buraneer in the grand final at North Sydney Oval.
The Mallee Bulls progressed to the decider after downing Gordon 20-10 in last Saturday's semi-final.
The win was UOW's eighth on the trot since joining the Sydney division two 10s competition in June.
Despite missing half of the competition, the Mallee Bulls still managed to finish third in the regular season.
UOW are yet to lose a game since joining in the second half of the season.
Mallee Bulls women's captain Grace Wright said while the aim was to win the grand final, the team did not need a fairytale ending to make this a fantastic season.
"I've said it before, we're just happy to be playing. The fact we are in this position to win a grand final is brilliant. A grand final win would be the cherry on the cake," Wright said.
The grand final will be played at 9.45am.
It will be the first game of many on the day, with all Shute Shield semi-finals to be played at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.
'It's going to be a big day. It's great we are playing first as it allows the boys to come and support us before heading back to Wollongong to play their club games against Shamrocks in the afternoon," Wright said.
"It's going to be really awesome. We've got a lot of supporters coming up there with us, which will be amazing.
"The rest of the club is so excited for us.
"The boys have had a tough season, they've only had a few wins, but they're really excited to see one of the teams in the club make it into finals and not only make it into finals but go undefeated and make it into grand final after we had such a rough start to the year.
"So the club is so excited for the team and everyone's really rallying around us to get the win on the weekend.
"But regardless of what happens, the club is so proud of the women's team.
"From having nowhere to play at the start of the season to going undefeated and making a grand final, it's a massive achievement for the team, especially considering we have so many new girls this year that are new to rugby or new to football at all.
"I'm incredibly proud of the girls no matter what happens on Saturday.
"It'll be a big day regardless. The girls are just so excited to have come this far in the competition.
"So I think no matter what happens tomorrow, we'll have a lot of happy faces."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
