After an extended break, the best four sides of the 2021 Premier Rugby season will be given two weeks to prove why they should be crowned champions of another strange, strange rugby season.

Ahead of the opening semi finals next weekend, Rugby News caught up with all four coaches to get the inside word on their playoff preparations and see what they had to say about the other three finalists.

Next, we chat to UQ coach Mick Heenan.

How are things looking ahead of the finals? 

“It’s been a challenging couple of years for everyone, hasn’t it? But I guess this is a pretty small obstacle for us to overcome compared to what some people are going through,” Heenan told Rugby News. 

“We’re in reasonable shape heading into the finals. I think every team would have liked to be training or to have played a few more games coming into it, but we’re all in the same boat. 

“Our guys are in good spirits. The injury situation is also reasonably positive and I think we’re all just really looking forward to playing again.”

Considering the strong seasons you’ve had, does the shortened finals series impact you guys and Jeeps more so than Brothers and Wests? 

“No, I don’t really think so,” the coach said. 

“Once we went in to lockdown, we all sort of realised that there was going to have to be some sort of compromise and really, I’m just glad that we’re able to get a finals game in. 

“I’m also pleased that we’ve got four teams competing who from my perspective all seem to be in really good shape. We should have two cracking games next weekend, then a great grand final after that. 

“The reality is, finals are always tough, regardless of the circumstances. I like to look at finals like a World Cup tournament. The home and away rounds are like the group stages and the main aim is to get to the knockout stages in good shape. 

“We think we’re in good shape and I imagine the other three teams think the same.”

What has training looked like for you guys during this recent break? 

“There hasn’t been a whole lot we can do as a team, we’ve had a few Zoom catch ups. But the guys have been going to the gym and they’ve been training mostly by themselves and occasionally in very small groups. 

“It hasn’t been ideal from a preparation point of view but the restrictions are easing on Friday now so we’ll be training Friday night, we’ll train again on Sunday night, then on Tuesday and Thursday. 

“We’ll be able to get four sessions in, which is great.”

On Brothers: 

“They’ve been in really good form in the second round. They had a hiccup against Easts but apart from that, they’ve been really impressive. 

“They put 80 points on Sunnybank, they belted Norths. They’re in pretty good form and they’ve got a really good team on paper, particularly with guys with Hamish Stewart back. 

“The last time we played them, we just scraped home at Crosby Park. We’ve certainly aware that we’ve got a tough game ahead of us. 

“They’ve been getting into a really nice flow with their attack and they’re quite hard to contain once they get going. If you make a few errors defensively, they know how to capitalise. 

“We’ve got to muscle up at set piece time and we’ve got to make our tackles.”

On GPS and Wests: 

“To be honest, I’m not thinking too much about either side at the moment but obviously both Jeeps and Wests are dangerous and they’re both very big sides. 

“If you line up the two semi finals, Jeeps and Wests are two physically imposing teams whereas, us and Brothers don’t quite have as much size. 

“Jeeps and Wests both have big forward packs and they like to be nice and physical and get on top of their opponents by outmuscling them. 

“They’ve got plenty of skilful backs as well.”