Up against Hill Top White in the Highlands Soccer Premier League climax this weekend, Marulan stalwart Dan Cooper said the squad is "quietly confident" about their chances.

"If we pay our best football, I see us winning the game quite comfortably," Cooper said.

"We've got a few guys with chronic injuries, if they fall ill with injury that can play a part but at this stage we've got a full squad."

At number one and two on the ladder respectively, Marulan and Hill Top are only separated by two points.

Though they have sat on top of the rankings for much of the competition, it has been anything but easy going for Marulan, whose clash against Bowral last weekend was do-or-die.

"it's been different with COVID, we didn't know the layout of the finals system until two weeks out, when we found out it was going to be one versus two," Cooper said.

"It was always do-or-die, so it was like playing a semi-final. It's prepared us well, playing the top teams in the last few weeks. It puts us in good stead."

After a 6-3 smashing of Bowral last weekend, Cooper was not expecting Hill Top to win its match against Yerrinbool.

"It was a bit of a surprise, Hill Top beating Yerrinbool 4-1 on the weekend," he said. "We were half expecting Yerrinbool to win."

Cooper is not by any means disappointed that Hill Top won, though, as Marulan have a 2-0 winning record over their grand final opponents throughout the season.

This experience has also given Cooper a good idea of what to expect this weekend.

"They're always pretty physical encounters," he said. "They've got a few big guys in their team.

"If we can match the 50-50 balls and if we can win it in the air as well then I think we can dominate Hill Top.

"They rely on kick-chase through balls because they've got a couple of tall, fast guys out wide. If we can contain their middle men, then I think we've got them covered in the back and we can dominate the attacking third.

"We've got to look at it as a one-off game, and everything we've done before means nothing really. We've got to go in there and play our style."

After a loss in last year's grand final, Marulan is eager to make amends. Cooper said the expectation for the team this year was always to make the grand final.

"We would've been a bit of a failure if we didn't make the grand final, knowing that we can beat all the teams," he said.

However, Cooper is experienced enough never to count out an opponent before the match starts.

"I think with a one-off game in the final, anything can happen," he said.

"I'm expecting to win, but you've got to play what's in front of you. Last year we were undefeated and lost the grand final. We know how it feels, and we have a little bit of a different game plan and a different approach."

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