The 2011 Shute Shield Grand Final between Eastwood and Sydney University at Concord Oval is less than hours away, and is shaping up to be an off-the-hook encounter.
The story is setup. Eastwood are the minor premiers having suffered only one loss this season and destroyed runners up from last year, Randwick, 77-15 to reach the final.
Sydney University have won the last six premierships, who some jokingly call call the Waratahs with their squad packed in with quality Waratah troops.
Uni made it to the final defeating a defiant Manly 31-16 in a performance nowhere near as dominant as that of Eastwood, but we know how the ‘Students’ perform in grand finals.
Another attractive feature of the match is the neutral fan’s hatred for Uni.
There are many vocal Shute Shield supporters that don’t want to see Sydney University win seven in a row and many will turn up or tune in just to see Sydney University finally fall.
The Eastwood lineup is headlined by some well known names such as Turner, Alcock, Dunning as well as solid regulars like Batger and Perrett, while Sydney University can boast names such as Carter, Halangahu, Mumm and Waugh.
The history this season has Eastwood winning both previous matches 45-27 (Round 2) and 22-7 (Round 13) where Eastwood put on a defense clinic, keeping Uni out of their try line until moments before the final whistle.
Admittedly, the University side Eastwood dismantled in the regular season is nowhere as strong as they are now and haven’t lost since they were boosted by their Super Rugby personnel in the latter rounds.
The last time these teams met in the big one was 2006 when Unviversity scraped through 17-10.
A decade has almost passed since Eastwood won in ’02 – will they finally be the team to take down the ‘Students’ and end their huge run of success?
The 2011 Shute Shield Grand Final will be played at Concord Oval on Saturday 24 September.
Kick-off: 3:10pm AEST
Television: Live on ABC1 (NSW/ACT) from 3:00pm AEST
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