Horwill: Reds skipper

Reds captain James Horwill insists his side can overcome their status as underdogs and see off the star-studded Crusaders in what should be a thrilling encounter.

The Reds finished top of the regular season table after losing just three of their 16 games, and followed that up with a dominant 30-13 success over the Blues in last weekend's semi-final.

The Brisbane-based outfit also came out on top in the league-stage meeting with the Crusaders, claiming a 17-16 victory.

However, the bookies still have Dan Carter and company as favourites to lift the trophy on Saturday, but Horwill believes his side have proved enough people wrong this season to know that they can pull off another upset.

"We're confident that we can go out and do the job that we need to do, but I guess the public out there see it otherwise," he said.

"I think the players have been working hard this year to put out perceptions of the team that were different.

"We've been putting things to bed throughout the whole year and ticking boxes the whole way. But I guess we've still got an area to make up there.

"In the end, the bookies' prices don't make a difference to us whatsoever. We don't really pay attention to that.

"It's about going out there tomorrow night and putting our best performance of the year on the park to get the result.

"We're certainly not going out there with any sort of doubt, we're going out there to play rugby and that's the way that we've been successful this year, so that's what we're planning to do."

Whatever the outcome, the game has the potential to be a classic encounter. The sides were the two highest pointscorers during the league stage of the tournament and the battle of the backlines is truly mouthwatering.

The Reds have the creative brilliance of Wallaby half-backs Will Genia and Quade Cooper, while centre Ban Tapuai and wing Rod Davies have enjoyed impressive campaigns.

The Crusaders three-quarter line is superbly marshalled by All Blacks great Dan Carter, with the likes of Sonny Bill Williams, Zac Guildford and Sean Maitland providing plenty of firepower in the wide channels.

With such prodigious attacking talent on show the difference could be made up front.

The Canterbury outfit's pack has proved to be one of the fiercest scrummaging units in the competition, while the Reds also face a huge battle at the breakdown as they face a Crusaders' breakaway trio of George Whitelock, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read.

Allied to that the New Zealanders are desperate to secure the title for a region that has suffered so much in the wake of the earthquake which hit Christchurch in February.

The disaster forced the Crusaders to play all their home games on the road, while their AMI Stadium will also not be able to play host to the World Cup fixtures it had been handed.

But coach Todd Blackadder has warned his side not to get caught up in the emotion of the occasion.

There's a lot of emotion and these games aren't won purely on emotion," warned the former captain.

"That (the earthquake) is a motivation but we've got to be clinical when it comes to executing the game plan and delivering a performance on the field."

The Reds are not without extra motivation themselves following the floods that hit the region earlier this year, and coach Ewen McKenzie has thanked their fans for their messages of support in the build-up to their Suncorp showdown.

He said: "The support we've received all year has been incredible and it's especially humbling to see so many fans get behind us, send us messages of congratulations and flock through the gates, after many have been impacted by the Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi."