St George captain Nick Stapleton believes Saints’ win over Sutherland three weeks ago will give his young side an advantage when they meet again at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Saints advanced to the Twenty20 Cup preliminary final with a stunning six-run victory over a David Warner-led Randwick Petersham side on Sunday.
St George return to the SCG for the first time since 2014 to face their local rivals this Sunday morning, with the winners to take on either Penrith or Sydney University in the final on Sunday night.
Saints scored an impressive 55-run win over a Sutherland side boasting former Australia captain Steve Smith and Big Bash star Ben Dwarshuis at Hurstville Oval late last month.
And Stapleton told the Leader his side would take plenty from that victory into Sunday’s clash.
“Probably the thing we won’t have this time is the element of surprise,” he said.
“They’ll be expecting a harder game which is good. But now we’ve set a standard and have beaten some really high-quality sides over the last month in T20 cricket. We want to keep re-setting the benchmark.
“We beat them well in that [T20 Cup] round game. They’re our local rivals and it’s always a big game when we play them. But at the same time we’ve all got some great mates in both sides.
“We definitely don’t mind playing them. Hopefully we’re on the right end of the result.”
Stapleton remembers St George’s last trip to the SCG four years ago. He was in the Randwick side beaten in the preliminary final as Saints went on to beat Sydney University in the final.
They’re our local rivals and it’s always a big game when we play them... we definitely don’t mind playing them.
- Nick Stapleton
St George will be without NSW Sheffield Shield paceman Trent Copeland (unavailable) and Moises Henriques and Kurtis Patterson who are required to play in a Big Bash practice match between Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers scheduled for Spotless Stadium on Sunday night.
St George will also welcome back star quick Nathan Ellis who will return from a playing stint in Tasmania.
Sutherland will also be without their Big Bash stars Shane Watson and Dwarshuis though are hopeful young spinner Daniel Fallins may be available, with a second Big Bash practice match scheduled for the SCG on Tuesday.
“It’s amazing for us to get to the SCG. We set ourselves this goal in round one. Now we know the calibre of cricket we can play,” Stapleton said.
“We’ve set a benchmark and there’s no excuse for us to not come home having won the competition and booked a place in the national championships in Adelaide.
“We are a very young side, inexperienced. It’s just huge for us to show what we can do when we set our minds to something. Potentially this team could be together for another five, seven, 10 years given how young we are.
“This could be a really good stepping stone for us to launch not just the rest of our season but the next chapter of our club’s history.”
Play starts at 11am.
