Five teams share the top tier this year, and only those in the top four will get to host a semis match. The Highlanders sit a close fifth behind Walcha, but a win this weekend would see them leapfrog Walcha to fourth.

Davidson said it seemed very much like Groundhog Day to him.

“We seem to be trying to leapfrog each other for the last three years, and we’ve just been, sort of, stuck there on the competition ladder, trying to get a bit of traction and get ahead of each other, but there’s a bit at stake this time,” he said.

With only three rounds to play before the semi-finals, should they win this weekend the Highlanders would then need to hold onto that lead with games coming up against Moree and Narrabri.

“Walcha do have a couple of country representative players and when they are in the side they are very hard to beat, but we’ve got a good record at home against them, so we’ll be looking to use that advantage as much as we can,” Davison said.

He said he thought last week’s thumping at the hands of the Pirates stirred rather than cowed his players.

“Some of them did an extra training session with Simon Clarke this week off their own bat,” he said.

“But I think the result down there didn’t reflect how the boys have been going this year. It’s probably one just to put behind us. I think we’ve got a good chance of securing the home final.”

As the only game of football being played at Inverell tomorrow, Davidson said he was keeping one eye on the weather, but if it ended up a wet weekend he still thought the highlanders had the side to take out the win.