Pirates co-coach Anthony Barbara believes his side will be better for the experience of last year's grand final defeat as they look to win their first women's 7s premiership.
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While there are a few new faces, the nucleus of the squad were part of the side that went down to Gunnedah in the Central North decider.
The first taste of playing in a grand final for a lot of them, they have experienced it now and what it is all about. They are a very different game.
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In saying that Barbara said the combined side should be confident in the way they have played throughout the year.
"They've just got to remember how they've won those games," he said.
He spoke about really "working hard for each other" and believes their second game loss to grand final rivals Glen Innes in the major semi-final two weeks ago has also put them in good stead.
Unbeaten until then it has given them that bit more hunger.
The premiers will be determined by the highest aggregate across the two grades, and Barbara emphasised the importance of starting well.
"Scoreboard pressure is a massive thing in sevens, with such a short time frame in games you really want to get on the front foot early," he said.
"I think we just need to secure possession and make sure we play the game we know we can play."
Pirates captain Claudia Nielsen is expecting a tight contest, and spoke about handling the extra pressure and maintaining their composure.
"We lost that second game just because we weren't composed enough," she said.
"I think if we lift and can be a bit more composed, we know we can attack hard and fast, and that's what we're going to do."
Nielsen has already celebrated some premiership success with Pirates with the under-14s girls side she and Pirates team-mate Jacinta Cooper coaches winning their division in the North West Regional Youth Competition.
After thrashing NEGS 45-nil in their semi-final, they then prevailed over Inverell in the decider 28-7 on the back of a strong second half.
"It was a bit tight for a moment there (it was 7-all at half-time), and I don't know that they've ever been challenged before so they had to grow in that," Nielsen said, adding that it was great to see they did.
The Elkettes have only beaten Pirates in one out of the four matches, and after accounting for Armidale convincingly in last Saturday's preliminary final to qualify for the decider, skipper Sarah Byrne said they have to turn up mentally.
"If we turn up and play like we did in that first game today [Saturday] and if we come in hungry for it, really just get up in their faces, we know they like to spread it wide, I think we are a good shot," she said.
"We can't leave it until the second game to have that want to win.
"Going out there with our heads in the game really makes a big difference, everyone having that in their mind, going 110 per cent from the first whistle."
TEAMS:
Pirates: 1 Tayla Styman, 2 Claudia Nielsen (C), 3 Chloe Swanton, 4 Camille Fernando, 5 Safia Arranz, 6 Rosie Ferguson, 7 Lara Dejong, 8 Phoebe McLoughlin, 9 Abigail Murray, 10 Jacinta Cooper, 11 Amy Raphael, 12 Jillian Mooney, 14 Shae Partridge. Coaches - Anthony Barbara & Kath Little
Glen Innes: 1 Breanna Grange, 2 Amelia Tunamena, 3 Tiarna McDonald, 5 Sarah Byrne (C), 6 Lauren Clarke, 7 Lenikki Craigie, 8 Sarah Woolfe, 9 Isabella Reardon, 10 Hannah Crisp, 11 Emilie Hodge, 13 Amy Byrne, 15 Ameliah Levy-Blair. Coach - Sam Pryce
