STRONG defence and an 'unbelievable' performance from centre Claudia McLaren - that's what Panorama Platypi coach Kevin Grimshaw felt were the keys in sealing his side a spot in the Western Women's Rugby League finals.
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The Platypi knew a win in their round four clash with the Midwest Brumbies would cement their spot in the top four of the opens division ladder and that's exactly what they did at Jack Arrow Oval.
But the 32-10 win did not come easy.
The Brumbies had the better field position and more possession in the opening quarter, so the Platypi had to muscle up in defence.
"We defended good in that first half, that's what won us the game, that first 10 minutes," Grimshaw said.
"We had the ball, we turned it over and we defended it, whereas the last two games when we had the ball and turned it over they'd scored.
"There were some good hits, I was very, very happy with them, you could see they wanted it. I said to them before the game that if they wanted to play a semi-final this was their chance and they went out there and did it."
Having absorbed that pressure the hosts then showed their flair in attack with McLaren - who also pulled off some brutal hits in defence - scoring three tries.
All of them came as she exploited space down the right wing, showing why she was a valuable member of the Bathurst Bulldogs and CSU Mungals premiership winning outfits earlier this year.
"The forwards held their own, but when you got the ball out to Claudia, Meredith [Jones], Erin [Naden], they were just too good. Claudia was unbelievable," Grimshaw said.
"She drove back from the South Coast this morning to play, to get back for it, that commitment, is huge."
The Brumbies started the better of the two sides, but Grimshaw's push for more commitment in defence showed. Molly Kennedy came up with some bone-rattlers while fullback Erin Naden pulled off a try-saver on Lala Lautaihi in the 10th minute.
Soon after the pressure was relieved as a McLaren line break made 50 metres for the Platypi and on the next play Naden scored. Katie Kennedy converted for a 6-0 quarter-time lead.
That advantage was doubled in the second period when halfback Bronte Emanuel found space on the left edge then converted her own try.
McLaren crossed for her first in the third quarter as she broke away from deep in her own half while finally, in the 45th minute, the Brumbies were able to breach their rivals' defence via Harriet Messner.
Though that gave the Brumbies a sniff at 18-4, just 58 seconds into the final quarter McLaren ran away for her second.
While the Brumbies kept pushing - nice dummy had Lautaihi over for their second - the Platypi weren't to be denied as McLaren and fellow centre Meredith Jones both scored in the final four minutes.
