By Amanda Myler
Liz White's Cougars enter Sunday's decider at Nissan Arena as favourites, after back-to-back wins over Bond in the final week of the regular season and again in the major semi-final.
But Bond captain Sophie Westover said past performances mean little ahead of what will be a maiden Sapphire Division Grand Final appearance in just their third season of top league competition.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say in our semi-final against them that we were disappointed about that loss, but it’s really given us a good opportunity to be able to go back to the drawing board and I guess reflect on what worked, what didn't, and know what we need to do in order to beat a team like the Cougars," Westover said.
Bond managed to recover from that loss to secure a come-from-behind 68-66 preliminary final victory over the Sunshine Coast Thunder last weekend, setting up the rematch against Cougars for the premiership.
"They've got a world of finals experience but I think we bring a lot of young girls coming through, and girls through different finals experiences coming together, and I know we're definitely capable of taking that extra step this Sunday,” Westover said.
"It's just going to take those one-percenters at the end of the day - who wants that ball more and who is going to be willing to put everything out on the court on Sunday, which I definitely think we are capable of."
Experienced Cougars defender Lillyana Rennie said eight straight wins heading into Sunday's 6pm game deliver a certain level of confidence, but their success lies in executing the basics.
"In the first ten minutes of each quarter, we've just got to really nail what we do every time - get it to goal, get our turnovers to goal, and not put pressure on ourselves to shoot twos," Rennie said.
"If it's a close game, it's going to come down to the very last quarter so it's going to be a very big grind."
The Cougars will be chasing double premiership glory on Sunday, with the Ruby side taking on the Gold Coast Titans in the earlier game at 4pm, while the M-League grand final is between Moreton Bay City Pulse and the Brisbane South Wildcats from 2pm.
"I think having Ruby in the grand final is a bit of icing on the cake, both (teams) going straight through," Rennie said.
"Our red army is going to be pretty big this weekend, so we're super stoked."
Tickets are available here.
KommunityTV is your home to watch Queensland's top talent LIVE and exclusive.
WATCH THE 2025 HART PREMIER NETBALL LEAGUE GRAND FINAL LIVE.
