On Saturday the districts skipper will play in just his second Narrabri grand final for Civeo. His first and only was back in 2010.

“Since that grand final we’ve won every wooden spoon bar one, and that was two years ago,” Cameron said.

He is one of only three players remaining from the side that incidentally beat Tatts to claim the silverware.

Steven Page and Matt Potter are the only other two players that have tasted first grade success with the club.

Cameron attributed the turnaround to a few factors.

While Civeo’s fortunes do still heavily rest on him and Nick Smart, they have had more contributors and haven’t been reliant on them to the same extent.

They have also shown a bit more fight and benefited from a few extra numbers, particularly in the bowling ranks.

New ball pair Jordyn Mowle and Will Morley are both in their first seasons with the club.

Mowle formerly played for Tatts, while Morley hadn’t really played before this season.

He offered his services one weekend they were short, and neither has looked back.

“He’s just improved every game,” Cameron said.

Adrian Byrne was another fortuitous, and valuable, pick-up.

Initially playing with Wee Waa in the Pilliga competition he had a run with Civeo one game Wee Waa had a forfeit. He enjoyed it so much when Cameron messaged him the next week and said he was welcome to play, even though Wee Waa had a game Byrne replied that he was playing with them (Civeo).

The trio will have a big role to play against the side that has been the benchmark all year.

Runners-up last year they suffered an early hiccup against Crossroads but quickly showed they were going to be the team to beat.

Tatts skipper Tom Craig knows only too well though that being the best the side through the season doesn’t equate to a premiership.

He has played in “six or seven” grand finals for just the one win two years ago.

Tatts already hold the Twenty20 silverware after beating Civeo last month, and have had their measure – so far.

“It’s going to be a big day out of for the bowlers with Smarty and Lachie,” Craig said.

The leading two runscorers in the competition, both have notched centuries in recent outings, but as Craig countered “neither of them were against us”.

One of the keys to their success against Civeo has been not letting them get away, and Craig is backing his bowlers to continue to pave the way as they have done all season, not just against Civeo but all their opposition.

“The dominance of our bowlers against the other batsmen seems to be the winning point for us,” he said.

He put that down to a mix of tight bowling, bowling in partnerships, and good depth and variety.

Michael Cain and Ryan O’Neill have been great leading off and are the two leading wickettakers in the competition. 

Jelany Chilia has also been a valuable mid-season inclusion.

“He’s taken 12 wickets in four games,” Craig said.

Cameron similarly acknowledged the challenge for his bowlers and highlighted the strength of Tatts batting, especially the top order of Craig, Brendon Ward, Rod Kirk and Craig Gleeson.

Ward, Kirk and Craig all struck half-centuries last time the two sides met as Tatts hammered 276.

The two sides will also clash in the second grade decider.