Coach Paul DeVitis has backed the big-game experience of several players to lift Newcastle Olympic in their minor semi-final against Charlestown Azzurri at John Street Oval on Sunday.
Olympic go into the elimination match after successive defeats to Azzurri (4-1) then Broadmeadow (3-1) in the space of three days.
They have also not beaten another top-four side since downing premiers Warners Bay 4-2 in round 10 during a seven-game winning streak that breathed life into their season.
To make matters worse, Olympic have sustained "two very big losses" in defenders Zoe Burnley (knee) and Alesha Clifford (ankle) to suspected season-ending injuries while goalkeeper Natalie Wiseman (thumb) is only a "50-50" chance to play this weekend.
Wiseman did not play against Magic on Sunday after sustaining the injury against Azzurri on Thursday night. Burnley and Clifford were both forced from the field on Sunday.
In better news, former national league midfielder Paige Kingston-Hogg managed 75 match minutes as her return from a leg injury continues.
"It would have been ideal to have momentum on our side but we played really good against Magic, so the mood was still pretty good," DeVitis said.
"Everyone was sad about the injuries but I feel like that's going to end up helping us because they know now that they have to band together and just perform at their absolute best, and this year we've actually done better when the games have actually meant something.
"We had that bad run at the start then it got to a point where if we kept losing we weren't going to make it and we went on that big run of seven or eight wins when we needed to."
Olympic secured the premiership-championship double in 2020, their first year in the Northern NSW Football women's premier competition.
They finished second in a COVID-shortened campaign last year but made a slow start to 2022 before going on a midseason run, which was eventually brought to an end by the Panthers in round 17.
Their top-four position was guaranteed before their past two games - Olympic finished fourth with 34 points, three ahead of Maitland (28) and seven behind Azzurri (41) - and DeVitis believed his team would step up "now that results are the main thing".
"We've still got enough cover," DeVitis said. "Everyone has played heaps of game time this year. Everyone's fit enough and we've got experience in the big games.
"Olympic won the last grand final and most of that team will be playing. We've still got people like Laura Hall, Jess Evans, Keely Gawthrop, Georgia Amess, Jemma House, Brooke Summers, who won the grand final a couple of years ago.
"So we've still got heaps of experience in the team. It's never been panic stations but it's that time now where everyone has to really come together."
