Vodafone Warriors front rower Charlie Gubb will have more than a passing interest in the North Queensland Cowboys – and specifically coach Paul Green – when they take on the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL grand final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Sunday (7.15pm kick-off local time; 9.15pm NZT).
After savouring NYC grand final success with the Vodafone Junior Warriors in 2010, Gubb linked up with the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the Queensland Cup in 2011 where Green was the club’s first-year head coach.
Green had started his coaching career working as a specialist coach with Wayne Bennett at the Broncos before becoming assistant coach in 2009 and then joining the Seagulls as assistant coach in 2010.
Stepping up to the top job, Green had immediate success guiding Wynnum Manly to victory in the Queensland Cup in 2011; Gubb was on the interchange while starting at fullback was Green’s current North Queensland hooker Jake Granville with long-time Brisbane back rower Dane Carlaw in the front row along with Wellington-born former Broncos hooker John Te Reo. The other starting prop was Mitchell Dodds, who’s on the bench for Brisbane in Sunday’s NRL grand final.
Green backed up by guiding the Seagulls to the premiership in 2012 when Gubb was again on the bench while his brother Peter was on the wing. Granville, Carlaw, Dodds and Te Reo were also in the side again.
In the same season Green coached the Queensland Residents side – which included Gubb – to a memorable victory over their New South Wales counterparts in the curtain-raiser to the third and final State of Origin match at Suncorp Stadium.
While Gubb moved back to the Vodafone Warriors in 2013, Green became NYC coach and NRL assistant coach at the Sydney Roosters where he would also come in contact with Vodafone Warrior-in-waiting Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Aside from the Gubb-Green connection there’s a strong Vodafone Warriors and New Zealand flavour running through the three grand finals at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
Brisbane’s NRL line-up features four players in contention for the Kiwi team to tour England – wing Jordan Kahu, prop Adam Blair, second rower Alex Glenn and interchange utility Kodi Nikorima. Interchange prop Joe Ofahengaue was born in Auckland but has aligned himself with Australia (he has represented the Junior Kangaroos).
Included in the North Queensland squad are Auckland-born wing Antonio Winterstein – who has played seven Tests for Toa Samoa – and loose forward Jason Taumalolo. Winterstein was in the Kiwis’ 2010 Four Nations squad but didn’t play a match.
The State Championship grand final pits the New South Wales Cup premiership-winning Newcastle Knights against their Queensland Cup counterparts the Ipswich Jets.
The Knights include wing Honeti Tuha, a former Vodafone Warriors NYC squad member, as well as ex-Vodafone Warriors NRL utility Carlos Tuimavave, ex-Vodafone Junior Warrior Tama Koopu and Marvin Filipo, who was in the Vodafone Warriors’ wider NRL squad in 2006. Also in Newcastle’s side are recent or current Junior Kiwis Joseph Tapine, Danny Levi and Sam Mataora plus 2014 New Zealand 18s representative Ken Tofilau.
The squads for the NYC grand final between Penrith and Manly include a number of New Zealand-born or New Zealand-eligible players, among them Penrith second rower James Fisher-Harris – a Junior Kiwi this year – and impressive back row partner Corey Harawira-Naera plus Manly’s Moses Noovao-McGreal, named in the Cook Islands’ train-on squad for the coming World Cup qualifier against Tonga.
NRL GRAND FINAL
BRISBANE BRONCOS v NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
7.15pm, Sunday, October 04
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins
BRISBANE BRONCOS
1 DARIUS BOYD
2 COREY OATES
3 JACK REED
4 JUSTIN HODGES (c)
5 JORDAN KAHU
6 ANTHONY MILFORD
7 BEN HUNT
8 SAM THAIDAY
9 ANDREW MCCULLOUGH
10 ADAM BLAIR
11 ALEX GLENN
12 MATT GILLETT
13 COREY PARKER
Interchange:
14 JARROD WALLACE
15 MITCHELL DODDS
16 JOE OFAHENGAUE
17 KODI NIKORIMA
18 DALE COPLEY
COACH | WAYNE BENNETT
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
1 LACHLAN COOTE
2 KYLE FELDT
3 JUSTIN O'NEILL
4 KANE LINNETT
5 ANTONIO WINTERSTEIN
6 MICHAEL MORGAN
7 JOHNATHAN THURSTON (c)
8 MATTHEW SCOTT (c)
9 JAKE GRANVILLE
10 JAMES TAMOU
11 GAVIN COOPER
12 ETHAN LOWE
13 JASON TAUMALOLO
Interchange:
14 RORY KOSTJASYN
15 JOHN ASIATA
16 SCOTT BOLTON
17 BEN HANNANT
19 RAY THOMPSON
COACH | PAUL GREEN
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND FINAL
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS v IPSWICH JETS
3.45pm, Sunday, October 04
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Matt Noyen
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
1 JAKE MAMO
2 HONETI TUHA
3 KERROD HOLLAND
4 JOSEPH TAPINE
5 KEN TOFILAU
6 CARLOS TUIMAVAVE
7 JAELEN FEENEY
8 DAMIAN SIRONEN
9 DANNY LEVI
10 SAM MATAORA
11 LACHLAN FITZGIBBON
12 JACOB SAIFITI
13 CLINT NEWTON (c)
Interchange:
14 GEORGE NDAIRA
15 MARVIN FILIPO
16 MICHAEL STEELE
17 JOSH KING
18 LUKE YATES
27 TAMA KOOPU
COACH | MATT LANTRY
IPSWICH JETS
1 CARLIN ANDERSON
2 MARMIN BARBA
3 LIAM CAPEWELL
4 NEMANI VALEKAPA
5 RICHARD PANDIA
6 JOSH CLEELAND
7 DANE PHILLIPS
8 JOSH SEAGE
9 MATT PARCELL
10 ROD GRIFFIN
11 SAM MARTIN
12 KURT CAPEWELL
13 KEIRON LANDER (c)
Interchange:
14 LANDON HAYES
15 KURTIS LINGWOODOCK
16 BILLY McCONNACHIE
22 FAKAHOKO TEUTAU
COACHES | BEN WALKER, SHANE WALKER
NYC GRAND FINAL
PENRITH PANTHERS v MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
1.35pm, Sunday, October 04
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Referees: Adam Gee and Peter Gough
PENRITH PANTHERS
1 BRENT NADEN (c)
2 FUIMANU ENESE
3 ROBERT JENNINGS
4 MALIKO FILINO
5 DYLAN EDWARDS
6 TYRONE MAY
7 JAROME LUAI
8 OLIVER CLARK
9 SONI LUKE (c)
10 MOSES LEOTA
11 JAMES FISHER-HARRIS
12 COREY HARAWIRA-NAERA
13 REED IZZARD
Interchange:
14 KAIDE ELLIS
15 THOMSON TUIGAMALA
16 PAEA PUA
17 JAKE ENNIS
COACH | CAMERON CIRALDO
MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
1 TOM TRBOJEVIC
2 JESSE BOGLE
3 ADDISON DEMETRIOU
4 JESSE RAMIEN
5 MITCH THOMAS
6 WILLIAM PEARSALL
7 RILEY TRAVERS (c)
8 LIAM KNIGHT
9 HUGH PRATT
10 JESSE MAXWELL
11 LUKE GARNER
12 WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE
13 DARCY COX
Interchange:
14 NICHOLAS HYNES
15 JAMES PARKER
16 DALLAS KOEN
17 MOSES NOOVAO-McGREAL
18 JYI SEYMOUR
COACH | DAVID HEATH
