This Sunday’s Queensland Premier Rugby grand final sees two of the oldest clubs in Queensland, Brothers and University of Queensland, go head to head.

It has been 26 years since the two clubs last met in a grand final, University claiming victory on that day in 1990, 19-10.

The two premier grade sides will not only battle it out for the Hospital Cup, but the clubs will also contest grand finals against one another in four other grades.

“There’s a big rivalry between the two clubs, so every team will be particularly hungry to get up over Brothers,” said UQ Premier Grade captain Conor Mitchell.

UQ defeated Sunnybank on Sunday to advance to their fourth grand final in seven years. The game went down to the wire with the lead changing five times before a 76^th minute penalty goal helped the Students to a 32-31 victory.

“It was a bit too close for comfort, but I’m glad we got the win in the end,” said Mitchell.

“I thought we played pretty well. We created a lot of opportunities but we bombed at least two tries, I think.”

The Red Heavies will be looking to make it four premierships from as many grand final appearances since 2010, but they face a Brothers side that defeated them two weeks ago.

“I think we need to make sure our defence gets set early and we get up quickly. We can’t allow a good team like Brothers to make breaks and get quick ball or else they will punish us,” said Mitchell.

“We also need to execute our plays. We’ve been good all year, but it hasn’t quite clicked in the finals. If it works then points won’t be an issue, our defence will just need to be on.”

The Premier Grade grand final headlines a big weekend for the University club as they have seven teams in grand finals across the 10 grades.

“It has a lot to do with the depth of the club,” revealed Mitchell.

“Throughout the season we have had to call up guys from Premier Reserves and even Brisbane 1^st Grade, and they’ve done themselves proud when they’ve play prems (Premier Grade).”

“But the most pleasing thing is when they drop back down, they don’t drop their standard of play, they bring everyone up to their level.”

Brothers also have strong representation across the weekend with five teams competing in grand finals.

Premier Reserves, Brisbane 1^st Grade, Brisbane 3^rd Grade and Colts 1 will all face off against Uni in their respective grand finals, and Brothers Premier Grade captain, Nathanuel Gendle, expects a bumper crowd on both Saturday and Sunday.

“There will be people coming out of the woodwork left, right and centre, and I think the Brothers-Uni rivalry will bring out even more,” said Gendle.

For the Brethren, Sunday is an opportunity to cap off a remarkable year for the club after they had all nine teams qualify for the finals, eight make it to at least the preliminary final and now five vying for silverware this weekend.

“Ben McCormack, as Director of Rugby, has had a big influence on the success this year,” said Gendle.

“There has also been a few good Colts years the last few seasons, and they’re now adding depth to the grades.”

A fortnight ago, Brothers shocked everyone by defeating Uni in the major semi final, halting the Students’ 15-game winning streak.

Brothers’ game plan centred around a physical approach aimed at frustrating UQ into uncharacteristic errors, with the tactic proving to be very effective.

“That will be our aim again,” said Gendle.

“They didn’t win 15 in a row for nothing. They’re a good team and we have to look to pile on the pressure and limit their opportunities.”

The speed and power of Taniela Tupou were also destructive weapons for Brothers, with the team employing the unorthodox tactic of positioning the tighthead prop in the backfield for kick returns.

“I don’t know what they’ll do with Nela, this week. Uni might be on to that one so we might have to change that tactic,” laughed Gendle.

“But he is a talented player and a powerful ball runner so we want to get the pill in his hands as much as possible.”

Brothers had the benefit of a week off while they watched their opponents for Sunday, UQ, throwing themselves at Dragons in the nail biting one-point win.

“It was a pretty physical game (Uni vs. Sunnybank), which is good for us I think,” said Gendle.

“Momentum is a big thing as well, which UQ have, not having a break. But I’d much prefer to have the extra week off to mend some bumps and bruises.”

There will be plenty of UQ Red Heavies and Brothers butcher stripes filling the stands – and the hill – at Ballymore this weekend, with the two most successful clubs in Hospital Cup history looking to notch up another win over their old rival.

Saturday’s games will kick off with the Women’s Grand Final between Sunnybank and Wests at 8:35am.

The action on Sunday will start at 9am with Brothers and University doing battle in Brisbane 1^st grade. That’s the first of three clashes between the two clubs on Sunday; the main game will kick off at 3:05pm.