The Waratahs have been a juggernaut this season, winning every match they’ve played and usually by more than 50 points.

Their power has been on show, in particular, during their last two matches against the Mungoes, putting 90 and 80 points on them in some extraordinarily one-sided matches.

With that in mind, an initial aim for the CSU side was simply to get to the grand final, which they did thanks to their win over Villages United last weekend.

One glaring area of difference between the Mungoes and Waratahs is the amount of senior experience in both camps, and if the CSU team are to have any chance, some of their older players like second-rower Pat McGarry are going to have to stand up.

“It is obviously going to be a pretty big ask, but it is grand final day. You just have to go in thinking that anyone can win. But it will take a massive step up from our point of view if we are to do it,” he said.

“The last time we played them we were in the game after 20 minutes, we trailed 12-4, and afterwards we came off thinking we legitimately matched it with them. Obviously it got a bit out of hand after that, but there was a point where we felt competitive.

“A lot of it depends on hitting them very hard early and trying to get a lead. Maybe coming from behind will put them in an unfamiliar position and force some mistakes.

“They have size, speed, and they use the ball well. It is a perfect combination and they don’t have any real weakness, so we have to be very aggressive, test the referee a little bit and try and tread the fine line between getting stuck into them and being ill-disciplined.”

McGarry is the team’s second-longest serving current player behind utility Lachlan Blaikie, having first joined back in 2007.

Since then he has been part of a Tertiary League second grade premiership, but sat out the 2012 Centennial Coal Cup season in which CSU Blue claimed the title.

“The club is a lot different to when I started. ‘Fat’ Blaikie is the only one there from before me and though a few of them like Steve Gibbs have been there for a while as well, when you are at a university club for more than five years it does tend to make you feel pretty old,” he said.

“When I started there were some older guys who had been there for a long time and you look up to them a bit when you first come into the side. Now with a lot of first and second year players I feel like an old guy myself.

“It would be huge to win a premiership again. The club has come a long way since Andy Banasik took over as president and with him leaving next year I think it will be great to help whoever is in charge next if we could win this grand final on the weekend.”

Gibbs will be arguably the most important man on the field for the Mungoes, having been awarded the competition’s Player of the Year title last weekend in a tie with Kandos player Cody Strickland.

“When he plays with confidence he is extremely hard to stop,” McGarry said.

“Close to the line, he crossed early last time we played Waratahs and if he can get a fair bit of ball in their half he can be a handful.”

CSU YELLOW: 1 Brad Dewar, 2 Colin Hodges, 3 Rin McLiveen, 4 Brad Wright, 5 Jacob Parslow, 6 Steve Gibbs, 7 Rhys Power, 8 Michael Hewitson, 9 Phil Brent, 10 Brad Bowen, 11 Pat McGarry, 12 Todd Wheeler, 13 Tom Adams, 14 Andrew Banasik, 15 Alec Walsh, 16 Lionel Priest, 17 Daniel Beckett, 18 Lachlan Blaikie, 19 Nick Chapman