Newcastle City coach Mitch Knight admits it could be a blessing or a curse to face rivals Terrigal-Avoca after their past two losses.
The Panthers host City at Tuggerah today after losing consecutive games to Cardiff and Killarney Vale before a bye last week.
"I'm confident we can get the job done with the team we've got," Knight said.
"It's definitely not going to be easy to play Terrigal after two straight losses - they'll be keen to bounce back and they've got some really experienced players that will rise to the occasion.
"But I've said to our boys that we've got a really good opportunity to get one over them this week."
The match is a repeat of the 2020 grand final that Terrigal-Avoca claimed by 26 points. Knight said about half of City's side remained from the 2020 decider and the result would remain in mind ahead of today's game.
'There's been a few personnel changes for both teams, but more or less it's the same core group of players," he said. "It will be a really tough game, we always have close contests and have been each other's rivals for 10 years now. We've beaten them in grand finals, they've beaten us. We know what to expect and at this point in the season, it's a really important game for us to win."
Knight said City were "nearly full strength" but Liam Tutty, Jarred Matson and Aaron Townsend would all miss the game with injuries.
Cardiff also travel to the coast for a top-of-the-table clash with Killarney Vale at Adelaide Street Oval.
The Hawks are flying high after three straight wins, including a huge 134-point victory over Maitland last week.
Running second after five wins from six games, they will be out for revenge after the Bombers claimed the previous meeting of the two clubs earlier this year.
The Bombers, unbeaten in six games, beat the Hawks by 35 points in round four. Coach Corey Shackleton said he was expecting a much tougher contest this weekend, labelling Cardiff the competition's "form team".
"Since we played them, and they probably didn't have their full strength side that day, I think they've been improving nicely," he said.
"Although we got them last time, they're probably the form team. They really did a job on Maitland.
"Defensively they structure up really well and they just have a good spread of players. They don't drop off anywhere. I think it will be an absolute cracker, hopefully on dry ground."
Killarney Vale will have eight players back for the match after resting the majority of that number last week against Singleton. Midfielder Rick White returns from a two-game absence.
In a battle of the cellar-dwellers, Maitland hosts Singleton at Max McMahon Oval. Warners Bay have the bye.
