Queanbeyan Blues skipper Terry Campese is ready to end a personal 15-year premiership drought at the club that kick-started his career after clinching a Canberra Raiders Cup grand final berth on Sunday.
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But the Blues are bracing for cross-town rivals the Queanbeyan Kangaroos to unleash the competition's best player, Brent Crisp, despite rumours the start fullback will be stuck in Darwin.
The Blues set up a Queanbeyan grand final derby when they cruised to a win against the Yass Magpies 30-0 in the preliminary final at Seiffert Oval.
It continued former Raiders captain Campese's happy homecoming after ending his professional career last year to link with the Blues.
The 33-year-old is unsure if he will play next season, but the chance to win his first title with the Blues since 2002 is his only motivation.
Campese played two grand finals on the same day 15 years ago, losing an under-18s decider before backing up and helping the Blues beat West Belconnen hours later.
His form helped launched his NRL career and he was picked in the Raiders squad the following year.
"It's been a long time between drinks since then," Campese said.
"As soon as I signed with the Blues this season, my goal straight away was to come back and win a premiership.
"Now we're in the big one and hopefully that can come true. As a coach you just want to get the best out of your players.
"It's been a big learning experience for myself doing this job ... it's been enjoyable and now it just comes down to one game. It's going to be a cracking day."
The Blues will be out for redemption after the Kangaroos won a major semi-final battle two weeks ago.
Crisp, the Les McIntyre Medal winner, was the star of that game, scoring three tries and reaffirming why he was voted the best player in the competition.
But Crisp has also been juggling work as a scaffolder in Darwin. Kangaroos coach Aaron Gorrell joked he would drive to Darwin just to make sure the fullback is playing in the grand final.
"We're expecting Crispy to play. They've been talking it down and think we're silly," Campese said.
"But in the grand final, you want to play against the best so I'm glad he'll be playing. He's a massive focus for us and scored three tries last game, but for us it's about attitude and who wants it more."
Just hours after junior rugby league games were called off because of snow, the Blues were never really troubled against Yass and scored five unanswered tries to keep their season alive.
Second-rower Michael Cullen scored a double, while outside backs Tom Ruediger and Brendon Taueki iced the result in the second half.
Tempers spilled over towards the end of the match and both teams had players sent to the sin bin, but Yass failed to fire when it mattered most.
It was a disappointing way to end the season for Yass, but the club has taken massive steps forward after only returning to the first-grade competition last year.
"Everything was off for us. The effort was there and blokes were putting their bodies on the line, but nothing went our way," said Yass co-coach Scott Naughton.
"At the season launch at the start of the year, they asked everyone who would make the finals. No one said Yass.
"We knew we could do it and I think we surprised a few sides. Last year was going to be hard to step up, but we learnt a lot and hopefully we can keep it going next season."
AT A GLANCE
Canberra Raiders Cup preliminary final: QUEANBEYAN BLUES 30 (M Cullen 2, A McInnes, T Ruediger, B Taueki tries; T Campese 5 goals) bt YASS MAGPIES 0 at Seiffert Oval.
CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP GRAND FINAL
Sunday: Queanbeyan Kangaroos v Queanbeyan Blues at Seiffert Oval, 3.30pm.
