Firsts coach Simon Clark said the Highlanders were pushing themselves so as not to have gaps in the team because he was expecting a close, low-scoring game.

“Our players will need to be prepared to play 100 minutes,” Clark said.

“It will just be who can weather the storm and play a good, consistent, hard game and I’m expecting it to go into extra time.”

Clark said his A-grade team had been spread a little thin all year.

“We’ve been lucky that all the players that have slotted in have stood up to the duty and haven’t caused any real hassles, in the late end of the season anyway,” he said.

Clark said figuring out who was eligible to play A-grade last week was a bit of a ‘head scratcher’.

“Once we make sure that all reserve grade players are eligible for first-grade, they will be selected accordingly,” he said.

“I think we’re solid enough to run a decent side on and have some explosive reserves up our sleeves.”

Clark said both reserve and A grade sides had depended on each other throughout the season, but finals was different.

“In finals footy you can’t have weaknesses in your replacements,” he said.

“We’ve tried to ensure that by rotating players and making sure  if there are positional changes, that those coming on are there to lift the side, not just to fill the spots.”

The Highlanders were beaten by Walcha during round two, and it was an experience not easily forgotten.

“They’ve been really solid from the start. Them and Gunnedah,” Clark said.

“In the games that we’ve played previously, they got away on us in the end and ended up stacking on points.”

Clark said the team had trained well and was now fine-tuning its technique by playing the full 80 minutes.

“It should all come together,” he said.

“There’s not a lot we can do to change anything at the moment, just tweak a few things and make sure our game is as tight as a barrel.”