Perth have defeated the Gold Coast 23-14, becoming the first team to
progress to the 2002 Grand Final. The Crusade held a 14-4 lead over
the the visitors at half time, but injuries to their star players
meant that the Crusade were simply outclassed in the second half.
Tevita Vaikona and Danny Buderus face three weeks on the sideline,
whilst Cayless joins Ashley Harrison as another player who won't see
action until next year.
The loss may be disappointing, but it's a far cry from the 40-4
thrashing a full strength Gold Coast side copped only a few weeks ago.

The Crusade now have a week to find out whether they'll be playing the Hobart Devils or the New England Ferrets. Both sides scored emphatic home wins, with Hobart coming from behind to win 19-12 over the North Melbourne Maulers. New England faced a tougher match, holding out Carnarvon to win 19-14.

The way things look, Perth are the team to beat, and should be able
to dispose of any side they come across. They host the Grand Final,
with neither side still in contention having beaten Perth at all this
season.

North Melbourne's season is over, despite the mammoth resurrection
performed by Jelly Adams in the final rounds of the competition to
lift his side into sixth.

Favourites from here: Perth

Gold Coast Match Report
Well, what a tough game of football. Not only in the sense that it was open right until the end, but also because so many players went down. We've lost big Nathan Cayless for the rest of the season, while Buderus and Vaikona should be back in time for the Grand Final, which we're confident of qualifying for.

We just couldn't hold onto our lead with the injury toll, playing 14 on 17 is never easy- especially when the missing players are such staple points in your lineup. Go forward guys like Cayless are hard to replace, but with no backs on the bench, we were always hard pressed to fill out our backline. Kamaal Lolesi will take Vaikona's place in our next match, and Willie Peters will go into the centres. Matty Rodwell will get a crack at hooker.

Of the three sides remaining, I don't think you can go past Perth as favourites. They might've been shaky leading into the finals, but full credit, they picked it up and they've got us 2/2 now. We hope to meet them in the Grand Final and make it 2/1.

Hobart and New England, well, we can't really say we're rooting for either side. We beat them both this year, but they were both tough games. New England's 'Ben' combination is coming into form at the right end of the season, whilst Hobart are fielding a strong side. Big Willie (Mason) has made an impact down there, and could be a real deciding factor next week.

While they play it out, we're going to lick our wounds and prepare as usual.

Chris Walker-Bush, Gold Coast Crusade Coach