PORT Macquarie Pirates hope to hold the edge in experience in Saturday's Upper Mid North Coast Rugby Union women's 10-a-side grand final.
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Pirates won the inaugural 10s premiership three years ago before they backed it up with success in last year's seven-a-side decider.
Standing in their way in 2019 is an undefeated Coffs Harbour side who will undoubtedly pose their greatest challenge at collecting a third-straight women's premiership.
Coach Michael Reed said the Snappers were well-drilled and held an impressive defensive record which would be difficult to overcome.
But they remained confident.
"Three in a row is the dream for us," he said.
"Coffs will be a tough team to beat; they're undefeated this year and haven't had a lot of points scored against them.
We've seen some massive upsets in grand finals before and we're the underdogs and we're hoping for the upset this year.
- Port Pirates coach Michael Reed
"We'll be up against it, but we'll be doing our best."
Reed said the "million dollar question" was how they would create a game plan to cause problems for the Snappers.
But in grand finals, sometimes all you need is luck.
"The one thing we've got in our favour is most of our girls have played in a grand final, but on any particular day you don't know what's going to happen," Reed said.
"All (grand finals) are one-off games and the bounce of the ball makes a big difference so if we get a bit of luck and defend well we'll go okay.
"We've seen some massive upsets in grand finals before and we're the underdogs and we're hoping for the upset this year."
Reed said the key to Pirates consistent performances over the last three years was simply due to their playing depth.
"From our perspective we've got a good core of players so if somebody is away on any particular week it's not panic stations for us," he said.
"We've got very capable girls who can fill-in in any position."
One such player is NSW Country star Jean Littlewood who has been one of Pirates' most consistent performers.
"She played this year for the Corellas and her ability to play anywhere on the field has been a real godsend for us," Reed said.
"She's played virtually everywhere except the front row and has been outstanding."
The continued growth of the women's game had also contributed to the excitement surrounding this weekend's grand final.
"The zone has taken women's rugby very seriously and have been really surprised at how much the girls love it," Reed said.
Jean Littlewood played this year for the Corellas and her ability to play anywhere on the field has been a real godsend for us.
- Michael Reed
"Culture has been super important for all the clubs and having women involved has cleaned up the culture somewhat.
"The girls love the rugby family and fraternity."
Meanwhile, Pirates will also be represented in the under-16 grand final when they tackle Kempsey from 9.40am.
Their under-18s will tackle Southern Cross University from 11am.
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