For most of the Group 10 first division season, Bathurst St Pat’s coach Rhys Frame spent hours on the the phone trying to muster enough players to field a side each weekend.
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But come this Sunday at Orange’s Wade Park, Frame will have group of players at his disposal that are a chance of tasting premiership glory.
“It’s been pretty good, the boys have stuck together and I’ve been able to call on a few older fellas to come in and help me out,” Frame said.
“We didn’t have many numbers this season, I had to call on a few 18s and when first grade didn’t make it, it helped as we had a few guys come back.
“But we were always short every week, so it’s a real achievement for us to make it this far. I was always ringing around every Friday and Saturday to try and get a side.
“The boys have just stuck together and I had faith in them to make the grand final, it’s been awesome from the boys.”
Having qualified for the finals in fifth thanks to winning their last two games of the regular season, the Saints had to survive three weeks of sudden death football to reach the decider.
First Frame’s side beat Oberon 64-14, the result an impressive one considering it was the first time in 2017 the Saints had beaten the Tigers.
The Saints then toppled CYMS 24-10 on their home turf at Wade Park before upsetting the minor premiership winning Bathurst Panthers 13-12.
It was the first time this season the blue and whites had bettered their Bathurst rivals and it booked them a spot in the grand final.
Trying to find one more win this Sunday against Lithgow will be another challenge for the Saints.
Their two prior meetings saw Lithgow emerge victorious with 20-16 and 24-4 results.
Still, Frame is hopeful that he and his fellow forwards can get on top of their rival pack and create room for their backs.
They include the vastly experienced Chris Osborne at five-eighth.
“We are going to have to be tough in the middle, but as long as we stick together and work for each other, we’ll go okay,” he said.
“The ruck is certainly one thing we’ll have to focus on.
“Hopefully we get a win. We’ve got nothing to lose, they have beaten us twice, we haven’t beaten them. They’re the top dog, so the pressure is on them.”
Sunday’s first division grand final between St Pat’s and Lithgow will kick off at 1pm at Wade Park.
- BATHURST ST PAT’S: 1 Kurt Norton, 2 Bobby Forrest, 3 Jack Grant, 4 Bailey Waldron, 5 Bryton Thackery, 6 Chris Osborne, 7 Shannon Peters, 8 Rhys Frame, 9 Jared Colling, 10 Mick Godfrey, 11 Harrison Jones, 12 Nick Millar, 13 Jack Mackey; Bench: 14 Jack Finn, 15 Pat Boatswain, 16 Fale Liva, 17 Mark Booth, 18 Brodie Samuel, 19 Caleb Wardman, 20 Mackenzie Jones, 21 Pauly Lasalo
- LITHGOW WORKIES: 1 Nick Miller, 2 Pauli Kunawave, 3 Liam Walsh, 4 Greg Alderson, 5 Michael Rennie, 6 Josh Jones, 7 Eli Fenton, 8 Darcy Allan, 9 Conner Legge, 10 Sam Rushworth, 11 Riley Allan, 12 Jack Kable, 13 Andrew Bain; Bench: 14 Byron Wilson, 15 Steve Hughes, 16 Peceli Vayavanku, 17 Trevor Wilson, 18 Steve McMurtrie.
