Once again it's time to decide the winner of the ASRL's most prestigious tournament - the Bob Fulton Cup. Since its introduction the tournament has produced miracles and heart-breaks, big wins and epic extra time battles, but through it all there's been one constant - the presence of the Gold Coast at the end.

The Crusade, now contesting their third consecutive Bob Fulton Cup final, would go in to today's clash against eighth placed Wollongong as favourites - but none could write off the tenacious Destructors, whose recent form may have been patchy, but who had been dangerous during the season and toppled some of the big guns.

The sides lined up with minor changes. The Crusade would go into the game with Ade Gardner in place of Matt King for the second week running, whilst Milton Thaiday's attacking potency was added to the bench in place of David Seage's reliable defence. For Wollongong their round twenty four clash had seen Englishman Richie Mathers pick up a bad knock - which saw Sebastian Mpofu come off the bench and Brian Bower move out onto the wing to mark Tommy O'Reilly. Ian Hindmarsh was the new man in the lineup, giving the bench some much needed forward grunt.

KICKOFF!

The siren sounded and Stacey Jones rushed forward to kick the game off, the ball hanging in the air before being collected ably by O'Reilly. The Crusade's opening set was one out stuff - the premiership favourites obviously intent on bashing their way through the Destructors'. A mixup at dummy half cut the movement short as Julian Santarakista and Danny Buderus both went in to pick up the ball and Santarakista knocked it on. The Destructors would get their first set of six just twenty seven metres from the Crusade line.

The Crusade compounded their error with an offside penalty from the scrum, and the Destructors showed a lack of killer instinct as they elected to shoot for goal rather than taking the tap and going for a four pointer. Hodgson made easy work of the penalty, and the Destructors had a 2-0 lead after less than a minute of play.

The early points instilled confidence in the Wollongong backline, whose inexperience was seen by many as its greatest weakness going into the game. For five minutes they showed that exuberance and confidence can make up for any amount of big game experience, Bower and Berrigan having a field day down Gardner's wing and twice going close. Only the timely defence of Julian Santarakista kept the 'home side' out. So far the Crusade had had very little ball in good position, but this all changed when Luke Covell failed to read a wobbly Andrew Johns bomb - knocking it on cold and handing the Crusade a repeat seat just forty out from the line.

Santarakista's good game continued with an incisive run downfield to well and truly put the Crusade on the attack and from there it was a simple matter of Andrew Johns popping up a short ball to a rampaging Steve Simpson - the Australian representative back-rower strolling in untouched to give the Crusade the first try of the match. Surprisingly Johns failed to convert, and so the score after seven minutes of play sat at 4-2.

The game settled down after this, the Crusade dropping their intensity back a little whilst Wollongong returned to controlling the battle of threequarters nicely. A light spray of rain began to drift across the ground, making handling sloppy and leading to increased chances for points. They came courtesy of Wollongong's Brian Bower - the big centre having a field day against Ade Gardner as he palmed off the smaller winger and went in out wide. Hodgson landed his second successful kick of the day to give his side an 8-4 lead heading into the second quarter of the clash. The rain continued to come down.

The kick-off soared high and challenged Hodgson to take it, and take it he did - the former NSW and Australian fullback leaping high, collecting the ball under pressure, and then embarking on a weaving thirty metre run to put his side right back on the attack. Ian Hindmarsh's injection into the game had an immediate effect, the big back rower skipping out of a despairing Stevens tackle to head further downfield. He came to Santarakista, dummied right, and flicked the ball left to a trailing Bower - who again skirted the touchline to go in out wide. In just ninety seconds the Destructors had put on two tries and the Crusade were in dream street. Hodgson's faultless night with the boot ended as the conversion fell wide, but the Destructors held a commanding 12-4 lead and it was only going to get worse for the Crusade.

Once again the kick-off went high, and this time it was Bower snatching it from the air. He immediately sent it in field to Shaun Berrigan, who he had been forming a lethal wing/centre combination with all match. Berrigan was away, stepping nimbly around Ade Gardner and racing downfield. This time it was Andrew Johns who was called upon to make the all or nothing tackle - one upping his fullback's previous effort with a brilliant ball and all bone rattler on the QLD representative. Still, Wollongong were deep on the attack and the Crusade were struggling to scramble back onside. A well weighted Danny McGuire chip kick went out wide and Josh Valentine, now playing in the back rower, was on hand to collect the bat back from Brian Bower and score. Wollongong's kick returns were cutting the Crusade defence to ribbons, and Hodgson's conversion saw it at 18-4 after just twenty minutes of play!

Andrew Johns attempted to rally his troops from the kick-off, driving it low and hard, but again it was picked up and returned with confidence. This time, however, the Crusade defensive line stayed strong - and the set played out before Jones punted it down field. The Crusade gradually improved in confidence as they had more ball, whilst Wollongong exchanged blistering attack for rock solid goal line defence - weathering sustained pressure on their line time and time again. The slick conditions began to tell however, and it was the Destructors making the lion's share of errors. This got the Crusade back into the game, and when Steve Simpson again crossed in the 31st minute of play - it was game back on at 18-10.

The Destructors were back on the attack just moments later though, with the Bower/Berrigan combination again providing impossible for the Crusade to contain. Bower had stepped inside two defenders and had left Berrigan with just O'Reilly to beat when he offloaded, but his pass fell inches in front of Berrigan and the centre was unable to collect. The Crusade immediately counter-attacked, Gardner racing onto the loose ball and bursting downfield where he was met with a bone-rattling Brett Hodgson hit. Whilst Gardner picked turf out of his teeth and played the ball, Andrew Johns had something special brewing. He collected the ball off the first pass, popped it up for Nutley, and then wrapped around to retrieve a deceptive flick pass from the big man. The ploy worked, and Johns was in space with Covell and Mpofu in hot pursuit. Mpofu fell for the dummy out to O'Reilly and Johns stampeded over the hapless Covell, crashing in under the posts to score a scintillating solo try. The Crusade were well and truly back in the game after two power players - and halftime approached with the game looking wide open at 18-16.

Half-time couldn't come fast enough for the shellshocked Destructors, who clearly didn't like the Crusade hitting back so quickly. The siren sounded with Stacey Jones putting the ball down under pressure, and what pressure it was, the Crusade had staged remarkable comebacks in their history - and the Destructors were in for a hell of a second half.

HALFTIME - Wollongong 18 lead Gold Coast 16

The second half got underway courtesy of the boot of Andrew Johns, and this time the defensive line was sure to come up as one, meeting the return of Hodgson with Stevens and Buderus. Wollongong continued to struggle with the wet conditions as Stacey Jones again put down the ball, this time in trying to offload to a trailing Kobe Patrick. The Crusade looked to punish Jones' butterfingers immediately as Gordon D'arcy rampaged down the right-side, but a desperation shoulder charge from Berrigan saw the European sensation bundled into touch. The Destructors had to work the ball out of their end and get a good kick away, but when Stacey Jones dropped the ball in attempting to pick it up from the scrum - it was panic stations for the underdogs.

The Crusade went one out for four plays and the Destructors looked to have it contained before Andrew Johns took the ball from dummy half and took on the line. The defence held back, waiting for something to happen and happen it did - Johns sending out a bullet pass to the wing where an unmarked Ade Gardner was able to run it in and take it in under the posts. Destructors' coach Brent Douglas was fuming whilst fans booed Luke Covell as he made a token effort to chase Gardner down. The Crusade had hit the lead, and Johns' conversion saw it at 22-18 in favour of the Queenslanders.

The Destructors finally had some luck go their way from the kick-off, with Santarakista misjudging the bouncing ball and allowing it to go into touch. With their first attacking set of the second half the Destructors pressured the line - but their attack was ultimately repelled by committed Crusade defence.

The 51st minute saw Brett Hodgson with an excellent opportunity to peg back the Crusade lead as Nutley was penalised for dropping the forearm into Lance Thompson but the crucial kick rebounded off the upright where it was collected by a somewhat stunned Karl Pratt. The game would remain scoreless for a further ten minutes as the tension built and both sides searched for what would surely be a match winning try. The points may have come thick and fast in the first half, but the second half had so far been a dour affair - and the next points were again from the boot - Johns ensuring the Destructors would need to score twice to win it in regular time as he slotted over a penalty for offside. The Crusade lead 24-18 with just under twenty minutes remaining. Time enough for a few tries, but would either side be able to overcome the greasy conditions and the desperate defence to put more on the board?

The 69th minute saw disaster strike the Crusade as inspiration Irish flyer Tommy O'Reilly was taken out in what looked to be a blatant late shoulder charge from Ryan Bailey following his downfield kick. The big English prop steamrolled O'Reilly seconds after the ball left his boot and he was stretchered from the field with a broken jaw. Referee Russell Smith saw it differently and the Crusade would need to play out a tense final ten without their most potent backline weapon and their #2 field kicker.

The show must go on however and Milton Thaiday's 70th minute injection into the game saw the little known fullback take his place in the lineup for the biggest match of his young career. The Destructors' return set was nicely contained by the Crusade, ending with a nothing kick from McGuire that barely made fifteen metres off the boot. The Crusade return was full of fire - the late hit on O'Reilly clearly stirring something in the tiring Crusade engine room as first Newton and then Southern bashed out solid metres up field. The Destructors tried to slow things down with niggle in the play the ball but Smith's penchant for penalties showed again, and the Crusade were piggy-backed downfield to embark on what could prove a game breaking assault. Johns didn't wait to find out, collecting the ball at the back of the pack and calmly slotting over a field goal to extend the Crusade lead to seven. The commentary team had expected the attempt late in the set and evidently so had the Destructors, with nobody in sight to block the attempt. Johns pumped his fist as the two sides returned for the kick-off, the Crusade looked home and hosed at 25-18.

Bower's quiet second half had already been cause for comment, but it wasn't to last long as Bower combined with future star Jaime Soward to tear the Crusade apart just minutes later. Soward got through the line with arrogant ease before finding Bower with a perfectly weighted chip off the side of the boot, Bower racing away to put it down under the sticks to the despair of the Crusade faithful and the delight of Brent Douglas on the sideline. Hodgson made short work of the conversion and with four minutes of play remaining it was 25-24 in favour of the Crusade. The next points would prove crucial!

The next set from Wollongong was sloppy and uninspiring but the Crusade seemed intent on allowing them back into the game, Buderus making a stupid error one the first tackle as he threw a pass to nobody and handed possession back to the Destructors. Just eight metres out and with a full set of six in their hands, the Destructors would just need to score any points to snare a win or force extra time. Plays one and two were pointless darts from dummy half, whilst play three saw Covell go close only to be pulled back by D'Arcy. Play four came and the ball was dropped back to Jones who set up for the field goal but had to contend with the rushing defence of Simpson and instead stepped and offloaded to Soward, who was immediately hit with a bell-ringer from Nutley. The play the ball came with Jones as dummy half and his attempted field goal was again smothered, the Kiwi international going to ground with the ball in hand. Just two minutes remained and Wollongong had just squandered a game winning opportunity.

With the scoreboard in their favour the Crusade's return set was a faultless one, with no more than a pass per play and the forwards content to take the tackle and prepare for the Johns clearing kick. The Destructors would, at best, have a single set with which to snare the match-winner. Disaster struck though, as Smith blew a penalty for offside and the Crusade were pushed further downfield. A copybook set followed and Johns sent it high on the last, but Bower's class again shone as he plucked the ball from the sky, seemed to step Thaiday in mid air, and began to rampage down the wing with Gardner behind him and Santarakista ahead. Gardner's despairing ankle tap sent Bower tumbling but he somehow slipped it inside to Berrigan, who raced downfield with Santarakista the man to beat. He...stepped.... GOT AROUND HIM! Berrigan gets around Santarakista and it's just twenty metres to the line! Santarakista turns and chases, his superior speed allowing him to get to Berrigan just five from the line. The siren's sounded and Berrigan is fighting in the tackle. McGuire's coming in support! McGuire in support! The offload! Berrigan pops it up for McGuire. HE DROPS IT! McGuire drops it with the line open and the siren gone! The Destructors have blown their chance to end a three year unbeaten winning run by the Crusade in the Bob Fulton Cup. The Crusade take it out 25-24!

FULLTIME

Gold Coast Crusade 25
Ade Gardner
Andrew Johns
Steve Simpson 2
Johns 4/5
Johns 1 fg

defeated

Wollongong Destructors 24
Brian Bower 3
Josh Valentine
Hodgson 4/6

MAN OF THE MATCH: Brian Bower

wollongong was robbed, simpson was miles offside

but good win anyway