Neither Easts' coach Ben Badger nor captain Joshua Bosker can bring themselves to watch last year's Shute Shield Grand Final.
“There's no point. I know what happened on the day," Badger remarked.
Catch the 2026 Shute Shield Grand Final live and on demand via Stan Sport.
The 2026 minor premierships are looking to right the wrongs of 2025 as they hunt for their second title in three years against Warringah on Saturday at Leichhardt Oval.
The Beasties have been the dominant side this year, dropping two games (both to Sydney Uni) in the regular season, with Badger's tweaks delivering the intended results
“I know the boys were certainly hungry and the grand final loss really hurts. I know the guys that were coming back, and there was only six or seven of them, but those guys were exceptionally hungry and I think that hunger fed into the other players," Badger told reporters.
“As a coaching group, I think I got a couple of things wrong last year. I ran them so hard throughout the year and we won everything but the grand final so this year we tactically tried to probably give them a bit more time off in the middle of the season so we could peak at the right time.”
Bosker was energised by the chance to get revenge over the Rats, parking their success in the regular season.
“Grand final rematch, another shot at them. It doesn't get much bigger than that," the second rower said.
“Grand final is a clean slate. Everyone comes at their best and I don't think much matters during the year until you get here.
The strong regular season positions Easts as the favourites in many pundits' eyes; however, Easts were quick to point the finger the other way.
“Everyone wants to paint the narrative that we’re the big favourites, but they’ve got a few good players as well,” Badger reaffirmed.
"I know the narrative again is around our superstar team. The Rats have got a Wallaby as well in Luke Reimer and a Fijian international [Iliasia Droasese]."
