That’s what awaits former Bega Rooster Dale Finucane when he and his Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs teammates come up against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday.

Finucane was called up to the NRL first grade Bulldogs during the 2012 season after stints for Canterbury in SG Ball and Toyota Cup.

It proved a timely selection for the then 21-year-old as the ‘Dogs won through to the grand final that year.

He managed to clock up around 10 minutes of game time during that final, which Melbourne Storm won 14-4.

This time around, Finucane has established himself a real impact player for the Bulldogs and is likely to head up the interchange bench.

“I’m really excited about it,” he said on Tuesday.

“The chance to play in a grand final doesn’t come around too often and I’ve been able to twice in three years – I’m very thankful for that.

“This year my minutes are up and my role in the side has increased, which is really pleasing.”

Also putting a smile on the young man’s face was scoring a try in the preliminary final against the Panthers – a try that ultimately proved the difference between the sides and sent the Bulldogs through to the 2014 decider.

“It was my first try for the year as well and to score in such a big match was a great experience.”

Finucane said preparations for Sunday’s game are “much the same as usual” despite the public hype about grand final week.

“We will go about the week as usual,” he said.

“We will have a day on defensive strategies and then a day on offence.

“There’ll also be a number of media opportunities, there’s the grand final lunch and the Footy Show on Thursday night where we will all be.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Finucane said later in the week is “more about relaxing and winding down”.

However, there’s good reason.

“We’ve worked all year and we know our structures – that should all come naturally come game day.

“You don’t want to go in over-anxious.”

Finucane said the club’s medical staff will be giving captain Michael Ennis “every chance” to recover for the big game, but it was still unclear whether he would available – even though “it’s probably the case he would play” with a broken foot, he added with a chuckle.

Finucane said the Bulldogs wouldn’t be taking the Rabbitohs’ lack of grand final experience lightly.

“They do have a lot of history behind them.

“They haven’t won a grand final or even been in one for a long time.

“However, they are a big side in the forwards and we will try to nullify that with our pack.”

The 2014 NRL grand final kicks off on Sunday at 7.15pm at ANZ Stadium.

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