The Rams are fired up after an upset win against the Swifts that confirmed the side its spot in September football, while the Storm are coming off a big loss to Harrow-Balmoral that meant little for the make-up of the final ladder.

Storm coach Tim Inkster said the match-up could be a tricky one.

“It was probably their best win for the year so they will be flying. They’ve beaten a team we lost to so they will be fairly dangerous,” he said. 

“We will have a few jobs lined up this week. Their forwards Jaydon Stiles and Nathan Koenig have been kicking a lot of goals and are pretty dangerous players. Sam Anson played well against us last time and they get a fair bit of drive from him.”

Inkster said his team was pretty close to being fully fit for the contest. 

“We aren’t sure about Ash Clugston, he trained on Tuesday but he could be too much of a risk,” Inkster said.

“We would like to have that double chance to have that luxury of giving him another week, but we will have to wait. 

“There could be a couple guys miss out if everyone is available. Tom Eichner will be back and Jayden Werner could come back too.”

It’s a similar story for Natimuk United who, despite having Jono Lovel, Kyal Murray and Jordy Smith out for the season, will have the rest of its playing list to choose from. 

Coach Sam Anson said his team was fired up and carrying plenty of momentum into the do or die clash.

“We have that belief that we can do it now and once you can believe you can do anything,” he said. 

“It was our full side last week and it’s amazing what happens when you can pull your side together. No one was carrying an injury on the weekend.”

Anson said his side, who has now secured a finals spot in the final round of the regular season two years in a row, would learn from its past mistakes.

“We need to learn from the last time we played them,” he said.

“Finals is a completely different brand of football. What has happened all year doesn’t mean much come Saturday. We need to concentrate and believe in our football and know that our brand is good enough to match it with anyone.

“Obviously they have some good players we will be worried about limiting but we are mainly focusing on ourselves.

“The momentum is huge and carries on and shows what we can do.”

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