PREVIEW: 2016 Sydney Shield Grand Final

Josh Robertson looks at Sunday's Grand Final of the NSWRL Sydney Shield between Mounties and East Campbelltown.

Mounties v East Campbelltown Eagles Sun September 25 2016, 12:15pm at Pirtek Stadium

Mounties will be seeking revenge in Sunday's Sydney Shield Grand Final when they take on the East Campbelltown Eagles in a rematch of the 2014 grand final, which saw the Eagles defeat Mounties 27-20 as part of the inaugural 'NSWRL Grand Final Day' two years ago.

The Mulga have been arguably the best form team across any sporting competition this season with 20 straight victories plus another in round 23 when Guildford forfeited their clash. Although Mounties have secured 20 straight victories, their two matches so far in the finals series have been less than ideal, with the minor premiers having to make a remarkable comeback when 30-6 down against Belrose in order to gain the week off. The second week was a bit easier for Mounties with no comeback needed against the Peninsula Seagulls, despite Mounties not scoring a point in the second half of the preliminary final.

Having been the most dominant team this season, the stats are backing it up for Mounties with their side boasting both the top try scorer in Maika Sivo and the top point scorer in Jake Horton. They have also racked up 329 more points than the opposition, as well as conceding over 190 points less so far this season.

On the other side of the fence, nobody needs to tell East Campbelltown that the odds are stacked against them - but as is well known: history and stats mean nothing come grand final day. It's all down to 17 players and 80 minutes of football and anything can happen. The Eagles come into grand final day off having won all three of their sudden death finals matches, coming into the finals series in fifth. They eliminated Cabramatta with a 38-26 win to move on to week two where an all-Eagle derby awaited them, with week one losers Belrose standing in their way of a preliminary final birth. The boys from the south-west downed their Northern Beaches counterparts, recording a 32-18 victory. St Marys awaited the Eagles in the preliminary finals, and a hometown advantage playing at nearby Campbelltown Stadium seemingly helped the Eagles a lot, with a surprise 40-6 thrashing of the Saints, guiding them to their second grand final in the space of three years.

East Campbelltown haven't been short of scoring points lately - and despite being shadowed by Mounties' dominance by comparison, Eagles' centre Ben Baker has been a try scoring master with 28 'meat pies' across the 2016 season.

2016 meetings: Round 8 - Mounties 40 Eagles 10 at Aubrey Keech Reserve; Round 22 - Mounties 38 Eagles 28 at Waminda Oval

Road to the Finals: Mounties - QF: def. Belrose 38-30; PF: def. Peninsula 32-16
East Campbelltown Eagles - EF: def. Cabramatta 38-26; SF: def. Belrose 32-18; PF: def. St Marys 40-6

Who to watch: It's not hard to work out that the players to watch for both sides will be their tryscoring masters - Maika Sivo for Mounties and Ben Baker for the Eagles.

A new addition for Mounties this season after spending the 2015 season with Gundagai in country NSW, Sivo has stamped his name with a long list of strong and quality players from Fiji and with over 30 tries this season and the opportunity to stamp his name on the grand final could lead to bigger and better things.

A veteran of both the Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield, Baker has shown over recent years that he is one of the highest quality players in the competition which included the honour of being named the Sydney Shield player of the season in 2015.

The favourite: Mounties are comfortably backed to take out the first of Sunday's three deciders.

My tip: Everybody loves a grand final upset and if the Eagles get up, this will be one of the greatest upsets in lower grades history. It's hard to see East Campbelltown stepping up to the mark after being beaten comfortably in both clashes this season between the two teams. Mounties just have too much quality right across the park and should use that experience to win their first Sydney Shield grand final. Mounties by 18.

1. Jake Horton 2. Maika Sivo 3. Joshua Toole 4. Sam Aiga 5. Shannon Chapman 6. Maile Li 7. Bradley Speechley 8. Tere Glassie 9. John Martin 10. Alec Susino 11. Luke Speechley 12. Ben Chahoud 13. Sage Wilder
Interchange: 14. Eddie Tavita 15. Fou Tagilima 16. Ben Whitehouse 17. Luke Cauchi 19. Dayne Vette Welsh 20. Blake Ritchie 21. Patrick Dumont

1. Edwin Connor 2. Craig Moustakas 3. Amanono Tovio 22. Ben Baker 5. Fusi Toutai 6. Micheal Stevens 7. Wayde Dunley 8. Fred Tevaga 9. Jarryd Eggleton 16. Guy Thompson 11. Mason Talolua 12. Ronny Palumbo 13. John Da Silva
Interchange: 4. Giovanni Vatuvie 10. Aaron Teraki 14. Va'enuku Vatuvei 19. Sama Sauvao 20. Chris Standing 21. Vincent Bablon 23. Remi Dufour 24. Julian Bousquet

Referees: Damien Briscoe;Sideline Officials: Ben Teague, Matt Damaso;