Captain and lock Barlow plus prop Hanrahan were two of the heroes of last season's 20-16 grand final win over CYMS - the former named man of the match - and have returned this year.

They are Saints who make plenty of hard yards, they are Saints who tackle hard and they are Saints who inspire.

"Last year in the grand final we lost our prop and if I was going to give someone a wrap, Nic Booth was probably the best player in the competition, he was scoring like two tries a game and put the wind up a forward pack on his own sometimes," Tyson Medlyn said.

"When he got injured we had to put Josh Hanrahan in there for 65 minutes in the grand final. He's not the fittest bloke, but he took on the challenge and led the boys from the front.

"Zippy, Nick Barlow, got player of that grand final, and we weren't actually expecting him to get a grand final. He was always trying to balance work and footy training, he was always committed, but it wasn't to the point we thought he was going to go out there in a grand final and play his best 70 minutes and be the best of all those boys out there on the paddock.

"They're going to be the frontrunners for us again."

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While some leaders inspire their team-mates with words, Medlyn said Barlow and Hanrahan will do it with the way they take on CYMS' pack at Jack Arrow Oval.

Dubbo CYMS impressed with the way they muscled up in the middle to beat Bathurst Panthers 28-0 in the preliminary final and the battle of the big men shapes as crucial one again in the decider.

"Josh doesn't say much, he just leads, he is more of an action sort of dude, the same with Zippy. Like he's the captain and I'll hand it over to him in the changeroom and he'll like say two words, that's the way he's always operated," Saints coach Tyson Medlyn said.

"Zippy is not one to say 'Boys follow me, do this, do that' he just goes out there and plays footy and is one of those blokes that you just want to follow.

"We do have a few boys in our team that are like that, then a few boys that have got a big voice and back that up, so it will be interesting to see how it comes together."

The Saints go into the contest as the undefeated minor premiers, their path being a 44-10 win over Cowra, a 13-0 forfeit victory over Orange Hawks and 24-12 triumph against Parkes.

CYMS have also had a flawless campaign. Before beating Panthers they toppled Hawks (20-12), Parkes (22-12) and Cowra (40-0).

"The best team will win on the night and if that's Dubbo they'll deserve it and if it's us, we may have got a bit lucky - it's just the way things happen," Medlyn said.

"Last year they turned up ready to play and didn't get the chocolates, but sometimes hurting because you didn't win a grand final will propel you to win the next one.

"I'm not expecting them to come over here and play for silver, it will be interesting, good, exciting."

Kick-off is at 8.30pm at Jack Arrow Oval.

ST PAT'S: 1 Jack MacLeod, 2 Cooper Nunan, 3 Rowan Hamer, 4 Nicko Davis, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Will Poole, 7 Trae Fitzpatrick, 8 Aiden Stait, 9 Jackson Vallis, 10 Josh Hanrahan, 11 Cooper Akroyd, 12 Jacob Ciccocioppo (v/c), 13 Nic Barlow (c), 14 Jack O'Neill, 15 Jayden Fisher, 16 Matt Beattie, 17 Chance Lowe-McKenzie, 18 Mason Martinez, 19 Jasper Worland, 20 Liam Kennedy, 21 Mitchell Collins, 22 Brodie Gaio.

DUBBO CYMS: 1 Calub Cook, 2 Jack Allen, 3 Kalolo Uele, 4 Cameron Longhurst, 5 Dale Smith, 6 Mitch Cleary, 7 Jordi Madden, 8 Thomas Stimpson, 9 Sullivan Haycock, 10 Lachlan Omalley, 11 Jaymn Cleary, 12 Kyujan Crawford, 13 Jackson Bayliss, 14 Tyler Edgecumbe, 15 Harry Heaney, 16 Harry Krueger, 17 Ty Sutherland, 18 Charlie Hollman, 19 Jayden Hyde, 20 Jayden Young, 21 Terrance Ryan, 22 Zac Conn.

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