In recent years, Wests have experienced both the joy of winning the 2022 premiership and the pain of losing a decider a year later. 

Bulldogs coach Elwee Prinsloo said a lot has changed since those two matches, but admitted it didn’t hurt to look back on those experiences as his side prepares for their third grand final in three seasons. 

“You look back at last year because you remember how it felt. We used that as motivation last week to help get the players up,” the champion coach told Rugby News. 

“It’s interesting, people will always remember how a situation made them feel and as humans, we’re designed to avoid pain and welcome nice things in life so it’s no doubt a good little motivational tool.

“I’ve got no doubt that will have been in the back of the players minds this week but it’s not something that we’ve spent a lot of time focussing on.”

Wests gave up a 12-point lead early in a 33-26 loss to Brothers in the major semi final a fortnight ago but Prinsloo said he’s confident his side can turn the result on Sunday afternoon. 

“They were better than us in the semi so we’ve got to find some solutions to change the result. 

“A lot of where they got on top of us were in areas that are within our control though. They took away our maul game and were smart at lineout time. 

“Then out discipline, particularly in defence, just wasn’t good enough and that gave them opportunities to score their maul tries. 

“If we can fix up our set piece and our discipline, that’ll be good start.”

Wests have plenty of experience scattered around their starting XV but will rely on 21-year olds Louis Werchon and Mason Gordon to steer the ship in the final match of the season. 

“They are young but they’ve grown up playing rugby together and have known each other since they were four-years old. 

“They also can’t do anything and our outside backs can’t do anything unless our forwards set a platform for them so that’s where our focus is.”

Heading in to their third straight Hospital Cup decider, Prinsloo took a few moments to reflect this week on how far the club has come in recent years.

“Our intent now is to win the competition every year and we want to run a program where we win and where we develop players to play at the next level and I think we’ve been doing that pretty well. 

“When we won last time, it was the club’s first time winning for 16-years and before that I was at Jeeps when they won it for the first time in 26-years so this is obviously a little different but I don’t think that makes it any less special. 

“The culture has changed a lot at Wests in recent years. When I first arrived, we were happy to win a game.

“Now we are expected to win games and we’re disappointed if we lose so hopefully we’ll be able to celebrate back at the club together on Sunday evening.”

Wests take on Souths in the first grade colts decider at 12:45pm on Sunday ahead of the main game against Brothers from 2:45pm. 

Grab your tickets for the ideal Father’s Day at Ballymore by clicking here.