Weekend Sports Preview | August 23, 2024 | Illawarra Mercury
WATCH: Illawarra Mercury sports reporters Jordan Warren and Agron Latifi discuss finals football as well as the Dragons double header happening this weekend.
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00:00Well, it's the most important time of the year, of course, it's finals football time.
00:04Jordan Warren here from the Illawarra Mercury, I'm joined as always on a Friday by my colleague
00:09Agron Latifi.
00:10Now, mate, there's plenty happening, we've got Illawarra Rugby League, we've got Group
00:137, we've got Illawarra Rugby Union Final Series all starting this Saturday and Sunday.
00:17How excited are you for that first off?
00:19Oh, very excited, there's so much finals, so little time, but it's an exciting time.
00:27We'll start with Illawarra Rugby, Shelhaven on a 37 game winning streak and they've already
00:33created so much records, they can create even more if they win two more games, they'll win
00:39the title for the third time, there's only a few clubs who have done it, Shamrocks were
00:43the last club to do it in the 90s, Climb have done it twice as well, Vikings are the only
00:49team to win four times in a row, but I don't think there's any club who's gone through
00:54the season undefeated, Shelhaven have done it two years in a row now, and they're on
00:59a 37 game winning streak, they're a great club and they play Climb on Saturday, so the
01:05winner of that goes straight to the Grand Final, the loser plays the winner of Campbeltown
01:09and Camden on Sunday.
01:10It's hard to believe that Shelhaven have got more records to break, but that's definitely
01:13the case, but we'll move on to Group 7, obviously a couple of massive games there, mate, you
01:18were talking to the representatives of the five clubs that are in the finals yesterday,
01:23what are you most excited about this weekend for finals?
01:25Yeah, that's exciting as well, I'm really excited about the Shelhaven-Albion Park game,
01:30because Park have had a great season, unexpected season, haven't won for 12 years, and they're
01:37looking to break that drought, but the Saturday game as well is huge, the Stingrays are on
01:43a five game winning run, but they're coming up against the Warrilla side who really, you
01:47know, they've been there, they've done it, so they know how to win, so the loser of that
01:51game is obviously us, but two very good games.
01:55Yeah, definitely all to play for in Group 7, and in the Rugby League too, we should
01:59mention there's a couple of massive games, on Saturday we've got De La Salle, the minor
02:03premiers of the competition, they'll be taking on West, and of course De La got knocked out
02:07in straight sets last year, so they'll be looking to avoid that this year and make a
02:12Grand Final, and of course in the other game you've got the defending premiers, the Royal
02:15Butchers, coming up against Collies, which of course is the Grand Final rematch from
02:192023, so that's an elimination final, and Thomas Gibson Park, so that's going to be
02:23a massive game, and while it's not finals, the football season is still very much in
02:28full swing, Wollongong Olympic and Coniston playing each other at JJ Kelly Park on Saturday,
02:33and that game could very well be a League Championship decider, if Wollongong Olympic
02:37can win that game, and results go their way on the Sunday, they could be crowned League
02:41Champions, but it could completely go the other way if Coniston beat them, of course
02:45Albion Park are in that race as well, and then I want to talk to you about the Wolves
02:48mate, obviously it's their last chance to learn, of course they got a bit of a lifeline
02:52last week with a result going their way, but they have to win at Macedonia Park on Sunday
02:57against Manly, but they need a result to go their way, what do you reckon?
03:02All they can do is do their job, so if they do their job, unfortunately that's the position
03:08they're in, but you never know, anything's possible in football, let's cross our fingers
03:12they win and they get the result the other way.
03:15It's like a last day in the English Premier League season isn't it, people checking phones
03:19at the same time as the game they're watching, but we'll move on, of course the Dragons have
03:24a massive game of their own, a local derby against the Cronulla Sharks in the men's and
03:29the women's on Sunday at Wynn Stadium, we'll talk about the men's, Gronny, obviously the
03:34Dragons are still looking to make that top 8 for the first time since 2018, what do you
03:39reckon about this game?
03:40Obviously a horrific record for the Dragons against the Sharks, what do you reckon about
03:44this Sunday?
03:45Well it's now or never isn't it, they have got a horrific record, you're right, but Flano
03:51against his old club hasn't beat him yet, the Sharks won the first time, so he'll be
03:55keen to get a win, and the Dragons really need to win to make the top 8, because their
04:004 on against isn't great, so they really need to keep on winning, and they've got a pretty
04:04good draw, apart from the Sharks, they've got Parramatta and Canberra, so it's in their
04:10hands.
04:11Certainly, two games they can win.
04:13Of course head to the Illawarra Mercury website or app, and our social pages, Facebook and
04:17Instagram, across the weekend we'll be across all the major sporting stories.