WILL it be third time lucky for Wyndham City Rhinos in the Victorian Rugby Union A grade grand final?
The last two times the Rhinos have made a trip to the big dance, it has ended in tears.
They suffered a gut-wrenching one-point loss to Melbourne in the season decider last September and it was the same margin in 2009 when they were edged out by Moorabbin.
Rhinos coaching director Darren Taylor told the Weekly that failures in recent grand finals were not a burden for his club. Rather they’re a point of reference on how to prepare and handle the big day.
“We use them for motivation and a little bit for the experience,” he said.
“Can we make things better? Are we going to learn from our mistakes in grand finals in the past?”
The Rhinos advanced to the grand final with a hard-fought 20-16 win over Eltham in the preliminary final at Mossfiel Reserve on Saturday.
A blistering start, which saw the Rhinos score 10 unanswered points, paved the way for the victory.
“We started the game extremely well,” Taylor said. “Eltham were a bit nervous. You could see that with the mistakes they were making and we capitalised on it.
“It was only a matter of time before we got points on the board.”
It took just eight minutes for the Rhinos to cross the try-line.
Brendan Vardey found a gap in the defence at the 22-metre line and passed on the inside to Andre Petaia, who scored under the post. The try was converted by Tipene Pihere.
Pihere was reaching for the kicking tee again four minutes later when the Rhinos received a penalty deep in their territory and he converted to make it 10-0.
Eltham found a way back into the contest, scoring two penalty goals and a try just before half-time to take an unlikely 11-10 lead.
There were ominous signs for the Rhinos and the half-time break could not have come at a better time.
“As the game went on, they started finding their rhythm and they came home strongly,” Taylor said. “They done the nitty gritty stuff and we made a few errors.”
Pihere traded the kicking boots for his hands to put the Rhinos in the lead with an unconverted try.
He was the beneficiary of a breathtaking move that saw the ball go through the hands of Levi Clark and Filisione Pouta.
The Rhinos got their all-important insurance-try after Apireru Maila barged over for a try, carrying two Eltham defenders over the line who dared to get in his way.
The drama was not over as the Rhinos went down to 14 after Shannon Tutty was sin-binned for a head-high shot.
The Rhinos defence worked overtime to continue repelling Eltham attacks on their line.
Eventually Eltham crossed, but it came too late and it ended up losing by four points.
“The boys dug deep when we were a man down,” Taylor said. “We were a metre off our line constantly for about 10 minutes. Our defence was awesome.”
The Rhinos are preparing for their fourth A grade grand final in their nine-year VRU existence.
Tevita Talau is the only player to have featured in all four grand finals.
The Rhinos are hoping to repeat their only win from back in 2007, but opponents Northern will present a major obstacle at Sparks Reserve in Box Hill on Saturday.
“It’s so tight,” Taylor said. “The boys are pumped and ready to go.
“There’s only 80 minutes of rugby standing between history.”
