"What goes around comes around".
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If there is one lesson Connal McInerney wants Lachlan Lonergan to take out of the John I Dent Cup grand final, that's it.
The two ACT Brumbies hookers are set to collide for the third time in four weeks when McInerney's Canberra Royals meet Lonergan's Tuggeranong Vikings at Viking Park on Saturday.
The fate of each side will rest largely on the battle between two mates - so Lonergan admits he might be better off leaving the sledges in the locker room this time around.
"That last round when we played them he was getting a bit lippy," McInerney said.
"I had a bit of a word to him at training and said it was bad karma to be giving it to a fellow hooker. What goes around comes around."
Four times a week the pair are honing their craft together at Brumbies headquarters as they prepare to form a three-way rake rotation with Wallabies incumbent Folau Faingaa during the next Super Rugby season.
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"I see a bit too much of him to be honest," Lonergan laughed.
But the rising star was more than happy to fire a few barbs at McInerney when the two collided again in the major semi-final a week after their first exchange.
Then the 19-year-old earmarked as a future Test player realised what McInerney had been warning him about.
"When he throws lineouts we talk to each other, but my next lineout I threw crooked so I stopped talking to him after that," Lonergan said.
That sweet little victory made a grand final berth even sweeter for 24-year-old McInerney.
"He actually said to me 'ah mate, I'm not doing that anymore, it's bad karma'," McInerney said.
"I said 'I told you, that's why I never do it to other hookers either'. It was pretty funny, we had a good laugh about it.
"I've been following his footy since he was 15 or so, and it's just great he has come through the pathway and now he is right in it with me and Folau [Faingaa] now.
"We're good mates. He's such an exciting player and he's got a big future."
But long before Lonergan can set his sights on a Super Rugby debut for a Brumbies outfit undergoing a changing of the guard comes a chance to lift the John I Dent Cup with his brother, Vikings scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan.
"It's awesome, it's always a proud moment to be in a grand final," Lonergan said.
"We played a fair bit of footy together, we haven't really recently over the past couple of years. To be in a grand final in the John I Dent Cup, it's going to be pretty special.
"It's awesome, good to be there. It's going to be a tough game but everyone is looking forward to it.
"It's always a good game, always tough, a bit of niggle goes on. I've got a few good mates in there, but it should be really tough."
JOHN I DENT CUP GRAND FINAL DAY
Saturday: John I Dent Cup - Canberra Royals v Tuggeranong Vikings at Viking Park, 3.25pm.
Second grade - Tuggeranong Vikings v Gungahlin Eagles at Viking Park, 1.25pm.
Colts - Canberra Royals v Queanbeyan Whites at Viking Park, 11.35am.
Women's - Uni-Norths Owls v Canberra Royals at Viking Park, 1.15pm.
First Division first grade - Gungahlin Eagles v Goulburn at Viking Park, 11.25am.
First Division second grade - Queanbeyan Whites v Wests at Viking Park, 9.35am.