Most of this weekend, Lismore will be outdoors barracking for their favourite sporting team as Finals Fever reaches its peak for the 2025 winter sports season.

The Lismore netball courts on Ballina Road will be full as the finals continue. The Football Far North Coast Men's Premier League Grand Final is at Oakes Oval on Saturday between arch rivals Byron Bay and the South Lismore Celtics, with kick-off at 6:15pm. The Women's Premier League Grand Final will be played on Sunday (September 14) at Oakes Oval from 12:15pm between Pottsville Beach and Lennox Head.

In the NRRRL, the Marist Brothers Rams' first Grand Final in 21 years is prompting local businesses to show their support, with Grand Final signs appearing in many windows or out the front of their premises.

JJC in South Lismore, Scoops & Candy on Keen Street, MT&T Tyres on Woodlark Street and La Barraca on Zadoc Street are just a few that are displaying support for the blue and gold in this Sunday's Grand Final match against Cudgen at Crozier Field.

Rams coach Darryl Butcher told the Lismore App that the home ground advantage is a huge plus for the players.

"Huge, huge, it's so big. We're so excited to be here. It's a great field. We love playing here. There were rumours going around that they were trying to move us to Oakes, but we just wanted to be here on Crozier. We've played all of our footy here. There's been some big games around the area on Oakes, but Crozier is what we call home, so why would we abandon it in our biggest game?

"We want to be here, and we want to see the hill and the stands and everywhere full and plenty of blue shirts around. We're excited. It's really good just standing here right now, like it's exciting just to picture what this place will be like on Sunday. I'm really excited for the town and our families to get behind us."

Darryl said he was proud of the season his players and coaching panel have put together so far.

"It's been a bit of a three-year journey with the boys; we've built every year. There's a lot of the same lads that have been there since the start of the last three years, and obviously, we've added some key blokes around them, and we've been kicking goals.

The Rams are in that sweet spot for a rugby club, with a good balance of older, more experienced players and some strong youth who come through the junior ranks.

(The forwards going through their paces in training on Tuesday night at Crozier Field)

"A lot of the guys in there are all about 20 years old now, a lot of the young ones that have come through from the juniors, so there's a lot of youth, and then there's some senior guys in there too. There's at least one with his last game, I'd say, and maybe a couple others.

Darryl confirmed that Mitch Krause is the player who will call an end to his playing career in the blue and gold on Sunday. Mitch is co-captain with another Rams stalwart, Paul O'Neil Jr. Both would dearly love to hold the NRRRL trophy in front of a large Crozier Field crowd at 5pm on Sunday afternoon.

"Mitch wanted to hang up his boots last year, but we won him over, got him back in for one more go. He's happy he played this year.

(Mitch Krause scoring in the corner for the Rams on Saturday against Bilambil)

Mitch's dad, David Krause, won a few premierships with the Marist Brothers Rams, the last in 2003.

"I spoke with DK today, he was willing to give a few away so we could get one on the weekend. He said he'd give anything to see Mitch, get one this weekend, but you don't always get what you want. But we'll be working hard for it."

The good news for Rams supporters is that all players pulled up well from last Saturday's win over Bilambil.

"I think everyone's fresh, everyone's good to go, everyone's recovered pretty well. We've actually come out better this week than we were a week ago from training. So that's exciting. That's good."

This is the first time the Marist Brothers Rams have played in the NRRRL Grand Final. Back in 2003 and 2004, and earlier, the division was split into groups, with the power teams from the north, like Bilambil, Cudgen, Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah playing in Group 18. The only time the two groups (1 and 18) would play each other was in representative games.

This makes this Sunday's Grand Final a little sweeter for the first-grade team.

Kick-off is 3:15 this Sunday at Crozier Field. Three of the five Grand Final games to be played feature local teams as the Marist Brothers Rams League Tag get the day underway at 9:30am, the Northern United Drawing Women's tackle team play Bilambil at 11:50am, and the first-grade team at 3:15pm. In between will be the U18s, Bilambil versus Mullumbimby, and the Reserve Grade at 1:20pm when another Bilambil team takes on Byron Bay.

If you only go to one rugby league game this year, make it to Crozier Field this Sunday.