Eastwood hooker Hugh Roach on the charge last weekend. Photo: Karen Watson.

by Brendan Bradford –

It’s probably a week earlier than either of them expected, but the top two sides in the competition face-off this Saturday as Manly host Eastwood at the Village Green with a spot in the Grand Final on the line.

The Marlins racked up another big score against Randwick last weekend while the Woodies must bounce back from a disappointing 38-36 loss to Southern Districts.

“We’re trying to focus on the next job rather than looking back to the loss last weekend,” said outstanding Eastwood hooker Hugh Roach.

“We reviewed the game on Tuesday and we learned a few things, but it’s history now and it’s time to move on to bigger and better things and that’s Manly this weekend. They’re a terrific team and have been since day dot. It’s going to be a great challenge, but if we can stay true to ourselves and work hard, hopefully good things will happen.”

Roach’s opposite number, Dave Porecki, has also had a stellar season, but knows Eastwood will come out firing on all cylinders this Saturday after last weekend’s hiccup.

Manly’s Dave Porecki. Photo: Carl Peterson.

“Eastwood are a big match club, even if they haven’t travelled that well during the season, they’ll always get up for the finals,” said Porecki, who was named in the North Harbour Rays NRC squad this week.

“They’ve got people in their team who will always up for the big matches but there’s been an awesome atmosphere at training and things are going well.”

While Porecki is only his second year in First Grade, he says the older heads are keen to shed the perception that the Marlins can’t hack finals footy.

“It’s not a good reputation to have, and one we certainly don’t want to have. We want to be known for finishing and if you come up against us in the finals, we’ll knock you out,” he said.

“We put ourselves in a good position to get a home semi and to win the Minor Premiership is a good achievement, but the year afterwards you don’t remember who the Minor Premiers are. It’s just got no influence, so for us it’s like a new season.”

That’s the message Manly coach Phil Blake has been hammering into the side for the last couple of weeks as he attempts to steer the Marlins into their first Grand Final since 1997.

“It’s about the key players making the key decisions at the key moments and which side can perform under pressure and make the right decisions,” he said.

“It boils down to one or two moments in the game and you just hope it’s your side that gets the result.”

Manly lost the corresponding fixture to Eastwood at T.G. Millner last season, but Blake is adamant that match is in the past.

“It’s quite ironic that we get the opportunity to play on the same weekend against the same opposition but this time it’s at our home ground which is a huge plus because we haven’t lost at home all year,” he said.

Manly lock Greg Peterson takes it up last weekend against Randwick. Photo: Carl Peterson.

“We spoke about that loss in the preseason and we won’t speak about it again. We addressed it right after that game and don’t need to go over old ground but it is ironic that it’s the same team at the same time of the season. We’re playing what I believe is the next best team in the competition and we’re under no illusions that we’re going to have to be bloody good.”

Both Roach and Porecki played down their head-to-head battle, preferring to focus on their own games, but Blake said it was a huge opportunity for each of them.

“Porecki’s had an outstanding season and these are the games you need to perform in,” he said.

“Hugh Roach was the best player on the field for them last weekend and he was outstanding against us in the corresponding match last year as well.”

Eastwood lost John Grant and fullback Ben Batger to injury last weekend in what coach John Manenti described as a frustrating game.

“Perhaps knowing that we had a second chance, we maybe took the foot off a little,” he said.

“We played well enough during the season to give ourselves a second crack and it’s a hard one against Manly, but to win the competition you’ve gotta beat the best. Even if we won, we’d have to play Manly or Uni and now it’s a question of how quickly we can dust off the injuries and the mental side of losing today and go forward.”

Brad Curtis starts at fullback in place of Batger while Grant is replaced by Ben Shorter on the wing for Eastwood. For the Marlins, Jacob Woodhouse gets his first run at fullback while Malietoa Hingano returns from knee injury at inside-centre.

Manly: 1. Mitch Lewis, 2. Dave Porecki, 3. Eddie Aholelei, 4. Ed Gower (c), 5. Greg Peterson, 6. Harry Bergelin, 7. Kotoni Ale, 8. Daniel Alley, 9. Mark Swanepoel, 10. Sam Vaevae, 11. Dane Chisholm, 12. Mali Hingano, 13. Brian Sefanaia, 14. Alex Northam, 15. Jacob Woodhouse.

Eastwood: 1. Jed Gillespie, 2. Hugh Roach, 3. Guy Millar, 4. Jared Barry, 5. Andrew Clyne, 6. Michael Kovacic, 7. Hugh Perrett (c), 8. Pat Sio, 9. Mick Snowden, 10. Jai Ayoub, 11. Ben Shorter, 12. Tom Hill, 13. Michael McDougall, 14. Nick Batger, 15. Brad Curtis.

Referee: Angus Gardner