The Marist Brothers Rams First Grade side is playing in their first Preliminary Final in eight years this Saturday afternoon, when they take on Bilambil at Crozier Field, and they are looking for some hometown support to get them into the 2025 Grand Final.

At training this week, First Grade Coach Darryl Butcher said there are some memories of that loss in 2017, and a few players looking for redemption.

"A few of the boys that were there eight years ago are a bit older and a bit wiser. They were very young back then. Most of those guys have moved on, obviously, a lot changes in eight years. But, yeah, it's exciting. We did the work early. We kind of hit a bit of a flat spot at the back end of the year, but we're in a good spot right now."

The Rams had the bye last week after finishing second on the ladder, and didn't play the week before the finals due to the relentless rain that caused fields to be deemed unfit for play. Is that good or bad for the players?

"We're not worried about the fitness at all. We've got a good fitness base. We've had good guys around us all year to build that. We think this will freshen us up a bit," Darryl explained.

"We're going to be close to full strength, probably for the first time in two months. We've had some injuries and just fatigue. We played something like 12 games in 10 weeks, so we played midweek games, and that was tough on the boys."

(Rams First Grade Coach Darryl Butcher addressing his players before training at SCU this week)

Bilambil have been the Rams' bogey side this year, beaten them twice, once at home and once at the northern neighbours' (inland from Chinderah) home ground.

"Last time they did a bit of a job on us. It was our first loss after we had a run of, I think, nine in a row, and then they beat us. They beat us before the run of nine and beat us to break the winning streak."

"We've got plans in place for this weekend. We know what they like to do a bit. And we do have a bit of a revenge plan because they knocked us out last year, early in the finals. So, it's good to get them again. The boys are excited. I'm excited.

"It's easy to get motivated when you're playing here in town in a Prelim for the first time in more than eight years. We're hoping to have a big supporter base there, and I think the boys are really motivated to get out there and put on a show."

Darryl is asking the Rams junior codes to turn out on Saturday afternoon once they play their finals in the morning.

"We'd love to see all our juniors and the juniors' families at Crozier. Our junior connection would be great to have on board and then flow on into the old boys and the rest of town to really get behind us. We understand it's hard sometimes when it's out of town, but we've got a game in town, so come and support us."

It has been a long time between Grand Finals for the Marist Brothers Rams First Grade team, some 21 years. A generation. So, grab the family, grab a friend and head to Crozier Field before the 3:10pm kick-off and cheer loudly to get the local lads a crack at a Premiership.