Tamworth rivals' final clash been a long time coming

The cross-town rivals haven’t met in a final since 1996.

The Magpies took the points then – and the premiership – and will be out to repeat the dose today.

There will be no silverware this time but, for the loser, their premiership dream will be over.

This year’s  ledger sits at one apiece heading in but the Magpies’ July win has the home side Pirates fired up.

And they’ll be keen to stamp their authority early.

“If we get on the front foot early, that’s part of the key for us,” Pirates coach Andrew Verrell said.

Not so much for them – they’ve fought back before – but more putting the Magpies off their game.

“We can’t let them settle into their routine,” he said.

That also means blunting the momentum they build through their forwards.

“Our biggest problem will be denying them the offloads in the tackle and that second touch stuff,” Verrell said.

That is his main worry as far as the Magpies are concerned – that ability they have from broken play.

“I think that’s partly to do with the big men they have in their forward pack,” he said.

“They like to throw the ball around.”

It has caught some of the more “traditional” sides out and was an issue for them in that last game.

So too were their errors and, for Verrell, that’s where it will be won and lost.

“I think whoever makes the least number of errors will win,” he said.

He said they will take a lot of confidence, and momentum, out of the way they executed against Gunnedah last week.

Equally, the Magpies are entitled to be  buoyed.

And they will be.

As well as knocking over Pirates, they pushed Moree and Narrabri.

More than momentum though, co-coach Mark Daley said they are starting to play to their ability.

“Some of the things we’ve worked on in terms of discipline and structure have really started to come out in the past three or four weeks,” he said.

They were last in the finals (top flight) in 2011 and, while they have only a few survivors from that side, most of the players have been there before in some capacity, whether with other clubs or other grades.

“We’ve spoken about what to expect,” Daley said.

“Obviously the intensity will be high.” 

One of the big things for them will be getting into the game early.

“The first 10-15 minutes will tell how we’ll go,” he said.

That was where they lost it in the first round.

Daley said they’ve also spoken about their discipline, knowing it can be what decides finals.

“It will come down to discipline and ball retention and how well we play to our structure and execute,” he said.