The Gunnedah Poochettes are shooting for their second premiership in three years, while the Inverell Saints are gunning for their second in two years and their third in four years.

The two AFL North West NSW women’s clubs have formed a strong rivalry in the past few years, with a fourth successive grand final encounter to show for it.

Despite losing Katrina Rekunow, Casey O’Connell, Georgia Tibbs, Lily Jensen, Annie Elphick, Meg Leaton, Kelly Ewington, Breeana Ward and an injured Abbey Ruttley from last year’s decider, the Poochettes have been one of the top two teams all year this year with a mix of youth and experience.

Inverell’s team meanwhile is likely to have about seven changes from the one which won last year’s decider 4.4.28 to 3.4.22.

At the helm for the second straight year, Poochettes coach John Woolaston said there “definitely will be” a mental issue aspect when facing the Saints in a grand final on Inverell turf.

“There’s going to be pressure like all grand finals,” he said.

“The level does lift, especially from those senior bodies, and just having the younger players keep up with (the) pace may be a challenge.

“We’ll focus on that at training and make sure we can get them on par, and just understanding how it’s going to be seen.

“Not to be overwhelmed by it, and just stay focused on what they can do, and stick to the game plan that we know.”

As for the key factors with preparation, Woolaston said basic skills would “be the number one thing” while the Poochettes would keep an eye on the weather and plan to the conditions whether they be wet, windy or sunny and hot.

Woolaston said the two teams had different approaches to playing the game, with the Saints displaying a longer kicking game.

“Their skill base off the foot is probably better than ours, but we’ve got to use that bit tighter sort of play, be prepared to run the football, (and) also have that off-the-ball running so we are positioning well, so we can attack successfully,” he said.

As for what makes Inverell such a strong outfit, Woolaston said, “I suppose the club culture that they have where they show a lot of passion.

“They’ve got a committee that’s fully supportive of the coaches and the girls.

“I suppose that support they give, players help give confidence so they do perform at trainings and take it into the game days.”

With the Saints having the three leading goal-kickers in the competition – Katrina Doak, Kayla Sims and captain Clare McCosker – Woolaston said these players had different body sizes and had their strengths in and around the contest.

“We’ve just got to make sure our midfield is set up where we can pressure the forward 50 entries that they do, to hopefully allow our backline to capitalise and get a counterattack working,” he said.

In a nutshell, Woolaston said the key for the Poochettes to win was “just staying focused on our game and what we can do, and don’t get lost in to how they’re playing and whatnot…stay focused with each other, do what we can do”.

With the trek to Inverell taking more than two hours, Woolaston said, “I suppose everyone has their own way of preparing for a game, like listening to music or just sitting down quietly or just casually getting around each other.

“But we’re looking at getting a bus so everybody’s not feeling pressure or anything like that, or feeling overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

“But yeah, creating that relaxed environment with the people we’ve been with all season.”