Complicating matters is the performances of a couple of his returning troops in Saturday’s preliminary final win over Pirates.

Sean Russ and Michael Cain were both strong performers in their first games back for a while.

Cain came on in the second half and was steady at the back after an earlier than expected return from a shoulder injury  which he picked up in their first- round win over Moree.

Russ hadn’t played for even longer but slotted in seamlessly at outside centre and really opened things up, for Tom Lynch particularly.

He’d come in for Henri Knight after Knight had been shifted into five-eighth to cover for the injured Jake Packer.

Knight didn’t end up playing in the end after having his own injury issues.

“He rolled his ankle in the last five minutes of the game last week,” Harley said.

He didn’t train on Tuesday night but, after training on Thursday night, pulled up sore on Friday.

Getting him back on the field is his biggest concern, Harley said, not that his replacement Kenny Anderson did a poor job.

Far from it, with Harley commenting that he really controlled the game well.

Matt McDonnell also had a strong game both in the centres and when he moved into breakaway.

“There probably are a few tough decisions,” Harley said.

Not that’s he’s complaining. It hasn’t always been the way this season.

Harley is  of the belief too that it will take a squad effort to win the premiership.

“I think our squad collectively is doing a great job,” he said.

He mentioned guys like Joel Ballon and Jack Maunder. They’ve only been playing 30 minutes but have been taking the sting out of the opposition for the likes of Todd Farrer to come on and really make some inroads.

After seeming to shake off their starting issues and, with the game allowed to flow more  being able to build phases, the only real concern for Harley coming from Saturday was their defence.

They need to fix that up. 

They let in a few too many soft points for his liking.

“We leaked 17 points,” he said.

“That’s not grand final defence.

“We can’t afford to do that against Moree.”

The big thing will be making sure they realign when they turn the ball over.

Pirates almost stung them a couple of times with breakouts from turnovers.

There were strong performers across the park for the Blue Boars but it was hard to go past two-tryscorer Lynch.

McDonnell was a close second, Harley said.