Lambton Jaffas coach Shane Pryce believes his side's experience, improvement and versatility make them the best challengers to Maitland's supremacy this Northern NSW NPL men's season.
And he reckons the premiers know it.
Jaffas finished four points behind the Magpies after Maitland beat them at Edden Oval 3-1 in the final round.
Since then, they have hit back from a 2-1 loss to Broadmeadow to topple Olympic 2-0 and Magic 2-1 to set up another shot at silverware against Maitland on Sunday in the grand final at No.2 Sportsground.
The Magpies have played just once since, downing Magic 4-1 to book their place in the decider.
The Jaffas beat Maitland 3-1 in their first meeting this year and Pryce believes they have the squad and the form to turn the tables again.
"I think Maitland would have been probably cheering for Magic a little bit," Pryce said of the preliminary final.
"I think psychologically, they might have them, and if I was them I would have rather played Magic because we've had to play every finals game and we've had slight improvement through them.
"You add that bit of experience that we've got, and it puts us in with a chance.
"You can't forget the amount of goals Maitland have scored and they are the premiers, so for me, they are favourites to go on with it, but we'll see what happens."
Jaffas forward Ben Hay, who has scored in the past two games and in the win over Maitland in June, came off the bench in the last-round loss. Hay was taken off in the 56th minute last week with a knee injury but Pryce said he trained on Wednesday night and was right to go.
"All that does is bring the teams closer I hope," he said of Hay starting this time. "But I wouldn't say that's any kind of advantage because grand finals are a different beast. But I think it gives us a bit of hope there."
Another boost is the return of Bren Hammel from a two-game suspension. Pryce said the experienced utility would be in the Jaffas squad.
Lambton sat deep and gave Magic few opportunities last week before catching them on the counterattack.
Maitland co-captain James Thompson expected a similar strategy on Sunday.
"They had a lot more confidence and played very free," Thompson said. "And as a back six, they were just so solid. Magic barely looked like scoring, so I think on the weekend it will be a different game to the one at Lambton in the last round.
"They will just invite the pressure and try to soak it up and get us on the counter. But that's what we want.
"We want teams to let us play in those tight areas up front because we've got so many quick guys and guys who can finish, so if they want to invite that pressure, they are going to pay the price."
As for tactics, Jaffas skipper and keeper Ben Kennedy said: "We've played several different ways this year, different formations, so I think we've got the personnel to make changes if we have to. We can go to what suits us and what we think will win."
