The Blaze under 23s, who finished conference B in top spot, are now preparing for Wednesday night's do-or-die Premier League semi-final against North Shore United.

Blaze under 23s coach Regan Tweddle said she expected a tough battle.

"They've got tall bookends, tall defenders and tall shooters, so I'm expecting quite an aerial game from them," Tweddle said.

"Their shooters are very accurate as well so it's going to be a tough game.

"But we've done a lot of work at training and we have beaten them before, so hopefully we can do it again."

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The Blaze have played some of the league's top sides in recent rounds, which Tweddle hopes has put them in good stead for this year's finals.

"We're in the harder side of the conference, so the teams that we've been playing against for the last four weeks have been top notch and given us a really good run for our money," she said.

"We've shown a lot of character being up against those good, hard teams, and that's where we're up to."

It has already been a big week for the Blaze.

On Monday, Tweddle and opens coach Marji Parr both re-committed to the franchise for the 2021 season.

"We're happy," she said.

"Marj and I are both local girls and played for Illawarra, so it's good to see that the Illawarra has actually got a franchise and got some local coaches that know what they're doing and are good at what they do."

Parr said Tweddle and her coaching team deserved for a superb season so far.

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"Regan's quite funny and she's got a really good sense of humour. Most importantly, she has a lot of experience and knowledge," Parr said.

"Her technical skills are very high and I guess it's the way she connects with her playing group and her coaching staff that make her a very strong coach.

"I think the Blaze under 23s are very lucky to have Regan as their head coach.

"It's an exciting time for our region and for our sport throughout the South Coast.

"What Regan and I have been able to start this year is something that we're really looking to build on in the next season."

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