Nathan Rose eyes off Group Nine premiership success with third club

Rose will lead Kangaroos on their quest for a first title in 14 years against Tumut at Equex Centre on Sunday.

Twelve months ago, Rose man of the match performance to help guide Gundagai to grand final glory.

Before that he was a thorn in the Tigers' side after being part of Southcity's success over Gundagai in both 2016 and 2017.

The Tigers got one back in 2018 while Rose was also part of the Bulls outfit who lost the 2019 grand final to Tumut.

This time around he's looking to get one back on the Blues.

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However his biggest focus is on helping Kangaroos end their premiership drought.

While Rose is heading into his sixth grand final in the last eight years this one is a little different for the 28-year-old.

This time around he's in the captain-coach role.

"There's always the same feeling heading into the grand final but there's a different aspect from the coaching point of view instead of the playing," Rose said.

"It's a good challenge."

Winning a premiership with a third Group Nine club would leave the 28-year-old in rarefied air.

However not something he's given a great deal of thought to.

"You don't play footy for those reasons but I suppose it would be something I'd look back on after my career if we were to win but I'm more focused on making sure the boys have a good week, enjoy the week and be up for the challenge on Sunday."

While Rose brings plenty of grand final experience into the side, with Kangaroos lining up in their first grand final in 14 years most of his teammates don't.

However the star playmaker doesn't expect it will have too much of an impact.

"It's always handy but it's not our focus," Rose said.

"Our focus is more on getting ourselves right, preparing the best we can so we're giving ourselves every opportunity to win on the weekend."

Instead he wants the side to enjoy the build up to the grand final.

"There's always excitement around when your club is making finals but that's one thing and winning a grand final is another," he said.

"We just have to enjoy the week and be up for the challenge."

Instead he's looking for the side to really tighten up their game as they look to score their first win over Tumut for the season in the game that matters the most.

Especially after the Blues capitalised on a number of Kangaroos mistakes in their 30-10 win to start the finals series.

"They are obviously a big side and physical through the middle so we will have to turn up with a good attitude and mindset ready to match that in the middle third," Rose said.

"In the last game we probably crucified ourselves a little bit by turning over cheap ball in our own half and they made us pay.

"We had plenty of scoring opportunities in that second half (of the final) that we didn't ice so we have to get ourselves right and hopefully that sorts itself out."

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