Coached by Steve Tongue, the comeback by Spurs is undoubtedly the highlight of the year in Dubbo senior sport.

Despite that turnaround in fortunes the Brad Flick-coached Bulls will be favourites to win back-to-back premierships when the big one is decided at Waratahs Sports Ground in Orange.

With mainly a bunch of kids at his disposal, Tongue had everything to gain and nothing to lose as the season started on April 15, but it was not until they come up with a 2-2 draw with Westside Panthers on July 1 that they posted their first points.

Next week they held Bulls to 1-1 and then on July 15 came their moment of truth, a 3-1 victory over Orange Waratahs.

Spurs haven't been beaten since. They finished the 12-game home and away season in fourth place but showed they were keen to progress with a decisive 3-0 victory over Lithgow Workies in the first elimination semi-final. Then last week they held out Workies 2-1.

What was the turnaround for Spurs?

"Mainly, it took a couple of months for the young players to come to terms with the pace of the game," Tongue said.

"Most of these guys are only 15 and 16 years old, our mid fielder Scott Doolan is still only 14.

"Despite their inexperience at this level of football we kept working away and finally it all started to click. They got that draw with Panthers and then went 1-1 with Bulls and all of a sudden they started to believe in themselves."

Tongue said, as a coach, his delight was seeing how the older players encouraged the younger boys with Jake Ferguson, Matt Burgess, Scott Doolan, Bailey Delaney and Anthony Wopoenka all in their first season of WPL football.

Although the training Thursday night of goalkeeper Jack Miller (knee) and Joel Tongue (ankle) was restricted, the session went ahead of plan and confidence is high.

Their strength will be in the solid defence through Les Usher, Gabriel Dunn, Matt Burgess and David Ferguson all on their game, while Miller is recognised as the best keeper in the under-18s.

For the Bulls, they didn't get to where they are without consistency. They won the minor premiership with eight wins, three draws and just one loss. They scored more goals (40) than any other team and their defence allowed just 12 goals. They will be hard to beat.

"You have to give credit to the Bulls," Tongue said.

"They won the comp last year and their game structure is very good. Gareth Williams and Connor Jarrett in the mid field are very good and Josh Ward's defence is unquestionable.

"Their coach Brad Flick is a very experienced player himself and he's taken that experience into coaching his under-18s."

Last year's grand final was decided on a golden goal when the Bulls got over Spurs. That won't happen on Sunday. It will be two halves of 45 minutes and if all even, 15x15 extra time, then a penalty shootout if still on equal terms.

o Orana Spurs: 1 Jack Miller, 2 Josh Brownlow, 3 Matt Burgess, 4 Gabriel Dunn, 5 Jake Ferguson, 6 James Burke, 7 Lachlan Earle, 8 Scott Doolan, 9 Les Usher, 10 Joel Tongue, 11 Reuben Jackson, 12 Anthony Wopenka, 13 David Ferguson, 14 Bailey Delaney. Coach: Steve Tongue.

sport.liberal@ruralpress.com