A DOMINANT midfield and strong ruckmen - they were key in the Bathurst Giants qualifying for the AFL Central West under 17s grand final and what coach Brad Broes hopes can now lead them to premiership glory.
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The Giants finished eight points clear of their grand final rivals Orange in the minor premiership, while their percentage was a massive 388.66 compared to the Tigers' 54.73.
Broes was clear in identifying why the Giants' record to date has been so impressive.
"Our midfield has been our backbone really, a lot of our success this year has been due to that," he said.
"A lot of our structure is based around that midfield with Hayden Goodsell and Daniel Belfanti in the ruck.
"It's not an area we try to rely on, but a lot of what we have achieved has been down to the hard work of those blokes then getting the forwards to convert that."
Still, Broes is acutely aware that everything his side has done this season will count for little if they can not convert it into a premiership this Sunday at George Park 1.
The Giants are the hot favourites and their most recent match against the Tigers was a commanding 10-3-63 to 0-3-3 victory.
But they are not unbeatable as the Tigers showed in round five when beating the Bathurst outfit by two points.
"There was only the one loss, it was a little hard to take because it was by two points," Broes said.
"It was just one of those days, it was a miserable day in the mud. A couple of things didn't go our way with a couple of the boys not being able to play then a couple of injuries.
"My word there's a rivalry between us and Orange, it's been a really good rivalry we've had with them the last couple of years. They're a good side, a tough side and I know we beat them pretty easy last week, but I'm not expecting anything like that this week, that's for sure.
"I've seen teams go through undefeated, flog everyone throughout the year and then lose the big dance. I certainly don't want that to happen to my boys."
Along with assistant Peter Hunt, who Broes says has been 'exceptional', the coach has stressed to his players there is no room for complacency.
But both Broes and Hunt do take confidence from the leadership shown by four of their players who have also been regulars in the men's tier one side.
"We've had four first graders this year - Zac Yandle, Liam Cooke, Rocco Yates and Cooper Brien, they've all done super jobs," Broes said.
"They've experienced that higher, tougher standard and they've brought that experience back with them to under 17s and that's really showed. All four of them are leaders of their area.
"It's always good to have a home ground advantage in your corner on grand final day, it's a ground we know quite well and we play well there. But it all depends how we approach the day, if we turn up switched on then happy days, if not then it could be tough."
Opening bounce in Sunday's grand final is at 2.30pm Sunday at George Park 1.
