DANIEL Lacey will be the first to admit he's stoked his Illawarra Steelers Tarsha Gale side secured the minor premiership this season, thanks to an impressive 8-1 record.
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In the same breathe, he knows that will mean very little now that it is finals time.
So he and his team will be purely focused on claiming a preliminary final spot, in this Saturday's qualifying final against the St George Dragons at WIN Stadium.
"The minor premiership is a nice reward for all our hard work thus far, as we always wanted to finish in that top four to get a second chance," coach Lacey said.
"But it all starts again now, with every game from here on in being tough.
"It's all about getting the job done on the day - it doesn't matter if it's pretty or ugly, you just do whatever you need to to win."
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The last time Lacey's Steelers, containing Milton-Ulladulla Meg Buchanan and Keele Browen, as well as Stingrays' Riley Scott and Alex Wallace, met the Dragons, on March 30, they won 28-4.
"The Dragons are one of the stronger teams in the competition, especially through the middle," Lacey said.
"And the last game was played in the wet, which probably suited them but I thought my girls aimed up and won the physical contest, which allowed us to run away with it in the end."
Lacey knows first hand how important winning this match is, after losing the corresponding fixture last season, which saw them bundled out in straight sets.
"It's massive to get that week off, because then everyone will be fresh in the elimination game," he said.
"Obviously it's a different team from last year, with only four players remaining, but I as a coach have learnt from last year's disappointing end about the importance of managing players.
"At the end of the day, a win on Saturday would get us one step closer to achieving our goal of the premiership - all of the girls know their destiny is in their own hands."
Following the under 18s women's match at 10.30am will be the Harold Matthews match between Jono Dallas' Steelers and the Balmain Tigers (elimination final), before the SG Ball clash between Ben Linde's Illawarra and the Central Coast Roosters (qualifying final).
Dallas' squad features Group Seven products Jye Hendire (Milton-Ulladulla), Trey Barlow, Jarvis Polley, Coleby Smith (all Stingrays) and Jonah Longbottom (St Georges Basin), while Linde's team is headlined by Sam Hooper, Blake Dowel (both Warilla-Lake South), Joshua Coric (Albion Park-Oak Flats), Oscar Fitzpatrick (Milton-Ulladulla) and Oliver Parrish (Berry-Shoalhaven Heads).
The final match at WIN Stadium on Saturday will see the St George Illawarra Jersey Flegg side, containing Warilla-Lake South's Blair Grant, Albion Park-Oak Flats' Jiye Ellis and Jake Brisbane, Milton-Ulladulla's Sam McCann and Gerringong's Tyran Wishart battle Canterbury-Bankstown from 3.15pm.