When St Pat’s play host to Mudgee Dragons this Saturday in Group 10 premier league the finals hopes of both teams go on the line.

Mathematically Pat’s and Dragons remain the finals race but to say the odds are against them is a huge understatement.

Both teams are yet to serve their second bye of the season, which means they need to win their next three games and will have to rely on one of either Orange CYMS or Oberon Tigers losing all of their remaining matches.

That equation is practically impossible in the eyes of Pat’s president Dave Chapman, who believes his team need to start looking ahead to next season while finishing off their current one in a positive fashion.

“Those that are in the top five now would have to fall in dark, deep hole to open the door for the likes of ourselves or Mudgee. I don’t see it happening. It’s out of our control and we’ve only got ourselves to blame,” he said.

“We’re not going to kick stones. Our premier league guys will support our other teams at training.”

The news remains bright for the Saints in all three other grades.

The club is still a chance of pulling off a remarkable achievement: Three teams in grand finals in back-to-back seasons.

“It’s a bit of a carbon copy of the way last year played out,” Chapman said.

“We’d be thrilled to see three make it like last year. Can’t help but feel disappointed though with the way premier league has unfolded for us this year.

“I wish I knew what the secret ingredient was to get our premier league team across the line.

“This year’s been a learning curve for us … and there’s certainly plenty of discussions internally about how we can turn things around in premier league.”

Winger Robbie Forrest will make his first premier league start this season. Match starts 2.30pm Saturday.