History will be made on Sunday in Sydney when, for the first time, two Queensland teams contest the NRL Grand Final.
The Brisbane Broncos go into the game as favourites, but the North Queensland Cowboys are full of confidence they can clinch their first-ever Grand Final win.
Jonathan Thurston will look to add Grand Final victory to his fourth Dally M medal win as the game's best player, and his co-captain Matt Scott believes the underdogs can do it.
"This year we've timed our run really well. We had a couple of games below par leading into the finals and each week we've improved so hopefully we can continue to do that."
Broncos skipper Justin Hodges escaped a ban at the judiciary this week but despite pulling out of training early on Thursday nursing an ongoing back complaint, the club insists he'll play.
Coach Wayne Bennett is aiming for his 8th Grand Final victory and admits his side's success this season has surprised him.
Bennett told Fox Sports if the Broncos stick to their game plan, they can win.
"We've just got a brand of football that we really enjoy playing and they've been consistent with it and we've just got to make sure we play that game on Sunday and that'll give us our best chance."
Saturday's AFL Grand Final will see Hawthorn attempt to win a third straight Premiership with victory against the West Coast Eagles at the MCG.
Hawthorn defender Josh Gibson says both sides are so well-matched it's hard to predict where the match will be won or lost.
"You know for us to be successful we need to pressure in the midfield and you know you look at their midfielders they've got weapons in there as well and its really hard to pinpoint one area and it really takes a full team effort to get a win this time of year."
The West Coast Eagles last won the Premiership in 2006.
The build-up to this year's showpiece was put to one side after former Eagles player Daniel Chick claimed his side's win 9 years ago came after many players had used illicit drugs.
AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan says he doesn't want those allegations to overshadow Saturday's game.
"If there's stuff in and beyond that, we'll have a look at the right time but this is about Grand Final week this week and nothing will be looked at or done until after the Grand Final."
The Wallabies and England face each other in a crucial Rugby World Cup group match in London on Sunday morning.
If Australia wins the Twickenham showdown, England will suffer the ignominy of being the first host nation not to qualify out of the group stages.
England lost to Wales last weekend, and will be desperate to bounce back and stay in the tournament.
But Wallabies coach Michael Cheika isn't factoring his opponent's disappointment into his game plans.
"We don't think that we've got the right to be saying, 'Well they're strong this week and not that week because they're angry this week" - you know, we're thinking about ourselves."
The Wallabies have lost key forwards Wycliffe Palu and Will Skelton through injury, drafting in James Hanson and Sam Carter.
English media are reporting that former South Sydney NRL star Sam Burgess will start the match from the English bench.
In football action this weekend, the big clash in the English Premier League sees 4th-placed Arsenal welcome leader Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium.
In Spain's La Liga, Real Madrid star Ronaldo needs just one more goal to become the club's all time leading scorer when he lines up in the Madrid derby against Atletico.
And in the Serie A, league leader Fiorentina is at home to Atalanta while second-placed Inter Milan travels to play Sampdoria.
Share
