If there is one team that deserves to play in the biggest game of the season, it is the Taralga Tigers who were undefeated up until the final game of the home and away season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They are now in the grand final against the Crookwell Dogs at Crookwell Memorial Park on Saturday, August 24 from 2.30pm.
Coming off their dramatic and nail-biting preliminary round win over the Jindabyne Bushpigs, the Tigers are relaxed and confident.
Although their recent games have been a struggle, Tigers coach Evan Rees said his side could turn it around.
"We'll flip it over into a positive," Rees said, "but it's been a bit of a wake up call for us.
"We've learnt a lot from it."
The two sides have played plenty of times already this season and know each other like the back of their hands.
"We've played Crookwell four times already this year," Rees said.
"They know us pretty well and we know them very well."
Rees has already decided on the starting lineup for the final, but will reveal it during their final training session.
"We've got a pretty well balanced squad and we've got some good cover for each position," he said.
"The lineup's pretty much settled."
Crookwell Dogs coach Bruce Nixon was nervous on the other hand, but said the players were fine.
"Everyone's pretty calm about it all," Nixon said.
"All we're doing now is treating it like another game, which just happens to be the grand final."
Nixon and the Dogs have the utmost respect for the Tigers.
"Taralga's a very good side," Nixon said.
"They only lost a couple of games during the year.
"They're sound and have good players in the right places.
"We'll respect Taralga since they lead the competition by 25 points."
Rees said the Dog's strength was their forward pack.
"They've got a big experienced forward pack who can retain the ball for long periods," Rees said.
If the Dogs want to make any last minute adjustments, they have their last training session on Thursday to do so.
"We'll focus on the team run on Thursday," Nixon said.
"We'll make sure everyone understands their roles."
The only thing left to decide for the Dogs is their team lineups.
"We've had a couple of injury concerns so we haven't decided on the team lineups yet."
"We will wait until Thursday."
The Tigers lead their head to head three to one leading up to the final.
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.