By Chris W.B

A year ago the Gold Coast Crusade faced New England, who were then in hot form, for the right to meet Perth in the Grand Final. This year the Crusade found themselves in similar circumstances, clashing with the red-hot Manly Cannons for a chance to face the undefeated North Melbourne Maulers.

The two sides, premiers of 2001/2002 (Gold Coast), and 2000 (Manly) lined up like this.

1: Kris Radlinski Brendon Reeves
2: Tommy O'Reilly Mat Rogers
3: Tevita Vaikona David Kidwell
4: Chris McKenna Aaron Moule
5: Waisale Sovatabua Marc Stcherbina
6: Chris Latham Laurie Daley
7: Andrew Johns © Stacey Jones ©
8: Nathan Cayless Michael Russo
9: Danny Buderus Marcus Vassilakopoulus
10: Iafeta Pelea'easina Logan Swann
11: John Eeles Darren Smith
12: Jason Croker Steve Menzies
13: Ashley Harrison Jeff Preston

Gold Coast Bench: Karle Hammond, Josh Perry, David Raelke and Brian Carney.
Manly Bench: Leigh McWilliams, Awen Guttenbiel, Matt Sing and Phillip Grahem.

Two sides, one seeped in tradition and one burgeoning with the youth and exuberance of a club in its second decade, met in front of a sold out Stadium Australia crowd. The Cannons got things underway and the opening exchanges showed that neither side was taking the other lightly. Early sets were far from routine, brilliant passing and control of the game from the opposing halfbacks providing plenty of excitement early on.

In a controversial decision, referee Justin Hoy (cousin of Nathan Hoy) sent off Ashley Harrison in the 5th minute for 'continually being offside', leaving Gold Coast down a man. Mat Rogers added salt to the wound, knocking over a penalty goal to put the Cannons up 2-0.

Gold Coast were threatened with send-offs once again from the kick-off, Andrew Johns creeping offside on the third. Johns had words with Hoy, complaining about the send-off after his side had only conceded two penalties. Hoy told Johns to 'shut up', and the Crusade captain was clearly angered- putting down the next ball cold.

Another offside penalty in the 11th gave Rogers another gift two points, setting the score at 4-0 despite Gold Coast pleading innocence.

The game settled down markedly after this penalty, the Crusade calming their defensive line as the Cannons sought an early try. After a particularly promising set from Manly, former Cannon Karle Hammond (playing off the bench) made a clean break, putting Gold Coast deep on the attack with tackles to spare. Shifting the ball from left to right, the Gold Coast created an overlap, Chris Latham scoring just inside the field of play. Johns made no mistake with the conversion, and the Crusade were leading 6-4.

In the 21st, Kris Radlinski came up with a controversial play when he stopped a rampaging Steve Menzies just short of the line by raking the ball in the in goal. The Manly side pleaded for a penalty try, but it was not forthcoming- a penalty instead awarded. Jones indicated Rogers would shoot for goal, and the score was locked at 6 apiece.

The game continued at its frenetic pace, Irish winger Tommy O'Reilly impressing with some slick work from dummy half- relieving a tired Danny Buderus with his well timed runs. However it was Karle Hammond, playing like a man possessed against his former club, who made the next breakthrough. He cut through some soft sideline defence, racing upfield before offloading to a trailing Brian Carney. The Irish winger took a gift try, and Gold Coast lead 12-6 heading into the break.

HALFTIME: Gold Coast 12 lead Manly 6

As the second half started, both sides came out looking to score a try. Gold Coast needed it to silence Manly, and Manly needed it to keep their premiership aspirations alive. However, pressure hurt both sides, with silly mistakes bombing several certain tries.

In the 58th Manly looked set to score, a dancing run by David Kidwell gaining almost sixty metres, and putting Jones in excellent position to heft a bomb. The ball hung in the air for a long time, before plumetting into the waiting arms of Mat Rogers. Radlinski's defensive ability was perfect however, as he drove Rogers into touch just short of the line.

Manly continued to pressure, looking the better in attack but unable to break a very determined Gold Coast line. In their best defensive display in the finals series, the Crusade repelled continual raids against their line. As the last ten minutes began to tick down, both sides lifted their games. Brian Carney started with a barn-storming sideline rush, before Brendon Reeves produced his own miracle, outmuscling Andrew Johns and throwing the Australian halfback into touch.

Things looked set for an explosive finish as Manly brought it out from the resulting scrum, but referee Justin Hoy came up with another strange call, penalising Russo for using his shoulder in a fend. Michael Russo attempted to make ammends in the ensuing tackles, but was instead penalised for raking the ball from Tevita Vaikona. The rake gave away a penalty, and Gold Coast got a penalty goal to lead 14-6 with five to go. Their hopes all but crushed, Manly fired up for the next set. A particularly dominant tackle from Brendon Reeves crushed Tevita Vaikona. The tough centre was stretchered from the field with a suspected broken arm, and the Cannons had one more chance deep on the attack (as Vaikona had dropped the ball).

Michael Russo's nightmare night continued however, the big prop knocking on in the second tackle, ending all hope of Manly making a late comeback. To make matters worse, Andrew Johns rubbed salt into the Manly Cannons' wounds, putting a pinpoint grubber behind their line, which found the arms of Carney. The Irishman found David Raelke, and the young Kumul scored beneath the posts to give Gold Coast a 20-6 win heading into the Grand Final.

FULL TIME
Gold Coast: 20
David Raelke
Brian Carney
Chris Latham
Johns 4/4
Manly: 6
Rogers 3/3

PoM Points:
Karle Hammond 3
Chris Latham 2
Tommy O'Reilly 1