Tasmanian captain George Bailey only has to look inside the Queensland dressing room before Friday's Sheffield Shield final to thank the men who have inspired the Tigers' hard-edged cricketing culture.
Last year's whipping boys will face the Bulls in the decider at Brisbane's Allan Border Field in a match-up between two teams in which Bailey sees similarities.
That's because it was players like Bulls coach Wade Seccombe and physiotherapist Martin Love, both former Shield champions with Queensland, who he looked to for inspiration when the Tigers were searching for answers.
"When we started having a bit of success many years ago we looked at how Queensland played their cricket and went about their training, professionalism and game sense and tried to mould ourselves a bit around that," Bailey said ahead of the fourth Shield final between the sides.
Tasmania won just one Shield game last season but have emerged from a tight chasing pack to test the Bulls over five-days under what is expected to be grey skies in Brisbane.
Bailey said the "battle-hardened" Queensland era that claimed three straight Shields between 2000-02 had proved a perfect cricketing template.
"They were just a really hard team to beat, and not comparing, but I see some comparisons in how they (this year's finalists) match up."
Admitting he felt like a proud father, the 35-year-old said the success of his younger teammates has given him greater pleasure than personal success as he chases a fourth Shield title.
"They're all special, but this would be huge ... in terms of where we've come from and the development, breakout years that I think the majority of our younger players have had, stepping up from bit-part players to leading the team," he said.
The recently crowned domestic player of the year has played almost as many professional seasons (14) as Queensland counterpart Jimmy Peirson has first class games (15).
But the 25-year-old wicketkeeper has been able to lean on those same former players for wisdom in his first full Shield season.
"Look at our coaching staff and you've got Lovey, Bich (Andy Bichel), Chuck (Seccombe) and Hopesy (James Hopes), they've all played (finals) and that's helping us deal with the moment, we're very calm and prepared," said Peirson.
"We aren't all as good as they once were; if anything they make it so simplistic it's hard to understand."
Australian Associated Press
