THE Queanbeyan Tigers' Rising Stars side will mirror their division one elders on Saturday when they run onto Gungahlin Town Centre Oval to take on Ainslie in grand final action.
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While the under 18s Rising Stars did not finish as minor premiers like division one, falling two wins short of Ainslie, they beat their arched rival in the major semi-final a fortnight ago, and face them again this weekend, in a scenario just like the division one team.
But this has meant both teams have been able to work together to plan their attacks on Ainslie, with the two clubs having shared a rivalry at the top of competition tables for the last three seasons.
Tigers Rising Stars coach Peter Jensen will welcome back Brandon Lagana, Matthew Grocott and Darcy Spinks, who have both played NEAFL and first division this season, in order to level his ledger against Ainslie this year, which is currently two wins to one in their favour.
"We've still been preparing as normal at training, but Ainslie have had the wood on us, and while we got up over them the other week, there's still one game to go," Jensen said.
"Hopefully the week off will freshen us up nicely for the grand final."
"In grand finals it's all about kicking the most goals, that's pretty simple."
With the Tigers having conceded the least points for the season, Jensen expected his men to reward that in the grand final by playing most of the match in their inside-50.
"We've given away the least amount of points for the year, we've been the best defensive side, so we've got to reward our defenders and our mid-fielders and move the ball forward," he said.
"If we kick 12 goals, we should be right...Matt Grocott has bagged goals for us this year, but although he'll be a go-to man, we won't solely rely on him."