IT is the grand final that many had predicted, but when St Pat’s and Bathurst Panthers do battle for the Group 10 league tag premiership at Wade Park tomorrow afternoon, trying to pick the outcome is a much more difficult task.

It is the second year in a row Pat’s and Panthers have been the two sides left standing on grand final day.

But unlike last season when the Panthers went through undefeated, this year there has been much less between the Bathurst rivals.

The minor premiership came down to the final round and while that went to Panthers, Pat’s won the major semi-final to be the first side into tomorrow’s grand final.

It is that 12-4 result which gives the Saints confidence that they can get the better of Panthers again tomorrow.

“Obviously Panthers had the week off last year and then won the grand final,” Pat’s coach Mick Armstrong said, the mentor hopeful of that pattern repeating this year.

“Panthers – you’ve just got to be on your game for and we did that in the semi-final.”

Pat’s won the inaugural league tag title in 2012 and had the chance to add to that success last year. The Saints were valiant on grand final day, but came up shy in a 24-12 result.

That result gave Panthers their second consecutive crown, but it also made Pat’s determined to deny their Bathurst rivals in 2015. 

The rivalry between the pair is friendly and while Armstrong said both teams always enjoy playing one another, the contests are still intense.

“Bathurst has always been strong in league tag. There’s a bit of a friendly rivalry there, especially with myself and Dave [Elvy, Panthers coach] working together,” he said.

“Other teams would probably be looking at us and thinking ‘We’ve got to catch up to this town’.”

Armstrong said his core group of players have laid the groundwork for what has been an improved season for the Saints. Those players will need to fire again tomorrow against Panthers.

“Our spine, as they like to call it in the NRL, has been excellent. Riane Barton at hooker has been strong plus Mish Somers and Karah Armstrong have controlled the game well in the halves,” he said. 

“Olivia Patterson has been excellent at fullback and Harriet Messner has done a lot of work for us in both attack and defence.

“I think we’ve improved over the last couple of years. Our speed is one thing that’s really picked up this season after adding a few quick girls to the side. At the moment we have a team of girls out there doing everything well and getting the little things right.”

The league tag grand final gets the day’s football underway from 9.30am.

ST PAT’S: Olivia Patterson, Jess Scadding, Steph Curtis, Elise Woods, Meredith Jones, Michelle Somers, Karah Armstrong, Nicole Schneider, Riane Barton, Amy Copping, Shay Naden, Mel Pumpa, Harriet Messner, Cassie Toole, Kylie Neville, Brittany Woodward, Bridgid Rhynehart, Letisha Myers.