Gunnedah can overcome the loss of key players Farran Lamb and Ben Irwin and win a long-awaited War Veterans Cup final, says skipper Mitchell Swain.
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And if that is to happen, undefeated Gunnedah – chasing their first title since 1998 – will need their young brigade to step up.
As has been the case all competition, Gunnedah have chosen a youth-tinged side for the final – Kaleb McIlveen, Adam McGuirk, Hayden Baker and new addition Zac Clarke named in Swain's 12.
"They deserve their spots … we're not just giving someone a go," Swain said. "We've done that in the past … The people that make this side [performed] well enough to make this side."
Sunday marks the end game for Swain's vision when he took over the captaincy at the start of last season. He was bitterly disappointed when they narrowly missed the final in that competition.
Despite frontline bowlers Lamb and Irwin missing, Swain said there would be "no excuses" if Gunnedah did not beat defending champions Narrabri for a second time in 2018-19.
"We've got a good side, we bat a long way down and we've got plenty of blokes who can bowl and bowl well," he said.
"We're still pretty confident, but Narrabri have got a good side. They're gonna come at us hard. We know we've got to be playing good cricket to get the win."
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On a positive note, Gunnedah quick Brad Jenkinson will bowl in the final despite a long-standing shoulder injury that requires surgery.
Narrabri skipper Lachie Cameron said Gunnedah were favourites to win the local-derby final, given their undefeated run and their homeground advantage.
Narrabri are also coming off a last-start away loss to Armidale.
Narrabri have made one change from that side, with Daniel Kahl out for personal reasons and replaced by Nick Tomlinson.
Ahead of last year's final, Narrabri crushed Armidale in the final round. And Cameron admitted that the loss to Armidale at the same juncture this year was "not ideal".
"Even though we're defending premiers, we're probably going in [to Sunday] as underdogs," he said.
Gunnedah: M Swain ©, S Doubleday, C Milne, K McIlveen, A McGuirk, B Jenkinson, S Gaynor, B Gander, J Mack, H Baker, Z Clarke, T Sands.
Narrabri: L Cameron ©, C Sargent, T Craig, L Meppem, C Kember, N Tomlinson, J Mowie, J Brayshaw, J Chilia, N Trindall, J Hall and R O'Neill.
