WHEN it comes to pressure games it's often said experience counts and it's exactly that quality - experience - Kevin Grimshaw thinks can give his St Pat's side an edge in the Western Youth League quarter-finals.
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A bulk of the under 18s Saints squad who will face Wellington Cowboys in Sunday's quarter-final were there on Group 10 grand final day last year celebrating a title success.
Prior to that many of them had played in Group 10 Junior Rugby League finals, so they are well versed at having to perform under pressure.
Performing under pressure is what they are now required to do again given the eight-team finals series for the Western Youth League has a sudden-death format.
"I congratulated the guys on what they've done so far, but now the fun begins. Now you're down to the business end of it, it's a knockout competition now so if you don't perform on the day, it doesn't matter how good you're going or how good you think you're going, if you don't turn up on the day, it's see you later, season goodbye," Grimshaw said.
"That's a bonus we have going into it, these kids have played semi-finals, played finals, played grand finals since they were 14s, so they know what it's like.
"Me personally, I think it's a big help to us. It's not being arrogant or anything like that, but this team knows how to win these sort of games.
"Teams can get nervous and they bottle things up, they can be afraid to try things, afraid to pass that pass that could lead to a try because they might drop it. This team, they back themselves to make that pass because they know the guy next to them is going to catch it and do his best to score, they don't hold back on doing things out on the field."
Backing the player standing next to them, be it in defence or attack, is something which led to the Saints topping the Eastern Pool of the Western region competition.
The Saints won seven of their eight games - a record only Forbes bettered in the Southern Pool - and averaged 30 points per match.
Their spine of fullback Ash Cosgrove, hooker Jack O'Neill plus halves Tyler Colley and Jack Ryan is formidable and Grimshaw will be looking for them to lead the way again.
It's not being arrogant or anything like that, but this team knows how to win these sort of games.
- Kevin Grimshaw
But while the Saints were familiar with their pool rivals given Orange CYMS, Orange Hawks, Lithgow Workies and Bathurst Panthers all play in Group 10, it's a little different when it comes to Wellington.
Grimshaw knows the Cowboys have the likes of halfback Rylee Blackhall and hooker Elijah Coliss who are big threats, but he's a unsure how they play their football.
He is expecting the Cowboys, who placed third in the Northern Pool with four wins, to have an expansive style of play.
"I'm anticipating a bit of a battle naturally," Grimshaw said.
"I think it will be a different sort of football, it usually is from Group 11 sides. I'm only surmising, but I think they like to throw the ball around a fair bit rather than get in the grind of winning a game, bashing out a game.
"They like to score some flashy tries, whereas us, we still like to do that but we like to wear sides down. Whether we can do that to them I don't know, they could be going to run us all over the park, try to move us about.
"But I'm looking forward to it and I think the players are too, they're looking forward to playing someone different and testing themselves against someone different."
The Saints and the Cowboys will square off from noon on Sunday at Orange's Wade Park.
The other sudden-death quarter-finals will see Orange CYMS host Dubbo CYMS, while at Dubbo's Apex Oval the Forbes Magpies take on Orange Hawks and Dubbo Macquarie do battle with the Parkes Spacemen.
