Bond University pulled off a stunning 34-0 upset over Wests today with a proud “team of nobodies” inspired by Queensland’s 1995 State of Origin team.
The shock result in the minor semi-final knocked out the Bulldogs when many judges had them as favourites to win the StoreLocal Hospital Cup in a fortnight.
The match had drama from the outset when Wests No.8 Luke Masirewa was red carded for stamping on the head of Easts winger Patrick Barlow at a ruck.
The Bulldogs were forced to play a man down for the remaining 75 minutes but Bond University were so superior it would not have changed the result.
The Bull Sharks were delighted at full-time at Sunnybank Rugby Club before revealing the inspiration they had drawn on all week in the build-up.
“We had a saying all week ‘1995 Maroons’ because we had to keep turning up, tackling and staying in the fight like Queensland’s ’95 Origin league team under 'Fatty' Vautin,” said Bond University flanker Matt Engelbrecht.
“Like them, we are a team of nobodies and like them we identify as a team of scrappers.
“Winning this semi-final is unreal. The whole idea was to retain the ball and put pressure back on Wests.”
The Bull Sharks did it to perfection to book a preliminary final clash against Easts at Bottomley Park next Sunday.
The Tigers find themselves in the prelim after being beaten 38-28 in Sunday’s major semi-final by a Brothers side which marches direct into the grand final.
Engelbrecht was superb for Bond as he has been all year. Inside centre Tyler Campbell made smart metres all afternoon and flyhalf Luke Depiazzi was classy.
It was Depiazzi who scored the Bond try for 5-0 at half-time after sharp fullback Tai Dowling had made a dart from the ruckbase and fed him an inside pass.
Depiazzi threw a cutout pass to winger Deon Evans-Ao Leifi for the try that gave Bond a 13-0 jump at the 47-minute mark.
The Bulldogs looked shocked at that point. Even with 14 men, they had dominated a large part of the first half. Their long unbeaten run of big scores entering the finals seemed to have them ill-prepared for a tight fight or a scrap for points.
In the major semi-final, the Tigers had their chances when an Andrew Ready rolling maul try tightened the scores to 31-28 with plenty of time remaining.
A succession of costly penalties and being unable to synchronise another drive from a 5m lineout played into the hands of the gallant Brethren.
In the end, a surge close to the tryline from replacement hooker Theo Fourie grabbed a final five-pointer for Brothers with time almost up.
Huge credit must go to Brothers lock Hamish Muller who backed up with a willing 80 minutes after playing the final quarter for the Queensland Reds in Friday’s match against Tonga in Nuku’alofa.
He still had spring in his step after a 12-hour travel day on Saturday.
The match was square at 14-all during the first half with both sides trading tries.
The separation arrived on half-time when classy Brothers speedster Will Cartwright chipped in-field from the left wing, sprinted and regathered for the try.
That 31-21 lead was the break Brothers needed.
In the women's major semi-final of the StoreLocal Founders Cup, Bond University inflicted a first defeat on Wests for the season.
The Bull Sharks marched into the grand final and a shot at a fourth straight title with a well-deserved 22-12 victory.
The victory was sealed when former Wallaroo Lucy Dinnen grabbed an intercept and scooted away for a try under the posts in the second half.
Dinnen had started at flyhalf for the express purpose of giving some hard, straight running lines to the backline before reverting to her regular backrow role to finish the game.
"We've really got connected as a team over the last part of the season. We put together a really good performance there," Dinnen said.
"That might have been only the third time I've been at No.10 but the whole idea is to make sure the backline straightens up.
"For us today, we showed Wests we are not just about getting the ball wide but we have a side that can hit it up hard down the middle channels and make ground there too."
The Bulldogs did show what they were capable of with their first try to winger Sabay Lynam, who finished off a fine string of phases which, of course, featured veteran prop Liz Patu galloping ahead as a trigger.
Wests will meet Easts in the preliminary final next weekend to decide which team will attempt to stop the Bond University dynasty.
