Gunditjmara Bulls coach beau Arnold delighted as side qualifies for first Limestone coast rugby league grand final

The Bulls, in just their third season as a club, were far too strong for the Jets in the Limestone Coast rugby league semi-final, triumphing 58 to nil.

They now progress to their first decider where they will face minor-premiers Stawell Mounties and their mentor couldn't be prouder.

"(I'm) so happy," Arnold said.

"This is three seasons in the making. We've come from nothing, a non-existent club to now we're playing in a grand final.

"Happy is an understatement."

To date it's been a stellar season for the Bulls on paper however signs weren't great early on.

After a three year hiatus due to the pandemic, Arnold said the club didn't have a side initially.

"We started pretty rough," he said.

"We didn't do a pre-season, went into the first round pretty undermanned."

The Bulls hooker commended his side for sticking to the fundamentals against the Jets and attributed the win to his side's stoic defence, which had been a focus.

"We've been training so hard lately, the last month we've been working on our defence, our defence is winning us games," he said.

"We know we can score tries, it's all about stopping the tries.

"That's what we've been doing at training and it's been paying off."

Unfortunately the win was soured by a couple of injuries, including severe ankle damage to Bulls second-rower Josh Tanner.

Despite this, Arnold has the belief that his side can get the job done on the biggest stage with the players available.

"We have beaten everyone now and we believe we can beat everyone quite easily, so we're taking that confidence into next week," he said.

"(To win would mean) absolutely everything.

"This is the first year I've coached these boys, I've played with them every season."

The Bulls grand final opponents - Stawell Mounties - secured their grand-final spot with an 36-18 win over Blue Lake Knights, immediately after the Bulls game at Friendly Societies' Park..

Only four points separated the grand finalists during the regular season.

In the two encounters between the sides, the ledger is square at one win apiece. The Bulls triumphed 56-20 in round nine after the Mounties prevailed 16-10 in round four. The decider is set for next Saturday with a venue to be announced.

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