FINISHING the season undefeated, winning in their last year of Group 10 Junior Rugby League, avenging past grand final defeats and beating a familiar foe.
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The under 16 Bathurst Panthers have no shortage of motivating factors for this Saturday's grand final against the Bloomfield Tigers.
A bulk of the Panthers squad who will be in action at Jack Arrow Oval have been team-mates since under 10s and they'd love a title success story to mark their final match in juniors together.
That they are facing a group of Bloomfield Tigers they have done battle with on grand final day before adds to their desire.
"They played in them in the grand final as under 10s, that was their first grand final and now they are playing them in their last one as juniors," Panthers coach John Griffiths said.
"They got beat by Bloomfield as under 10s, got beaten as under 11s by them and we beat them in under 12s - so yeah, we need a bit of revenge.
"A lot of those kids are the same, so it's good to finish against them."
The last two seasons these Panthers have made it all the way to grand final day only to lose to the Cowra Magpies.
They were defeats which stung, but Griffiths knows avoiding that feeling of disappointment is another factor which will drive his side on.
"I think the pressure is on them, they're as nervous as all hell. They lost the grand final when they were minor premiers last year, so that's eating at them, but I think it makes them hungrier," the coach said.
"They know what it feels like to lose and they don't want to to lose.
"So yes they're nervous, but it's a good nervous I think, a controlled nervous. They know they can beat them, they have just got to turn up with the right attitude and mindset to do it."
The Panthers have met Bloomfield just once this season, beating them 16-6 on the way to an undefeated minor premiership.
Panthers beat St Pat's 24-6 in last Saturday's semi-final to now to be one win from a perfect season, while the Tigers booked their spot in the decider on the back of a 28-24 win over Cowra.
Griffiths knows his side must improve their completion rate to take the final step as when the Panthers enjoy good possession, they can convert that into points.
"They're a threat, they're probably the hardest game we've had. We won that 16-6, we won our other games comfortably but that was a tight one the whole way through," Griffiths said.
"If we get the ball work right I think we should win, but we're not going to count our chickens.
"We've got a good six, seven, one and nine and they've been it from under 10s, they've been our spine. They've played together a long time and know what each other do.
"The boys on the bench do their job when they go on too, it's pretty rewarding actually to take one off and put one on who does the same job. It makes it easier."
The match kicks off at 3pm Saturday at Jack Arrow Oval.
