AL Austin believes the anticipation associated with the Billabong Crows first finals appearance since joining the Hume league can overcome their lack of finals experience against Culcairn.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pair clash in an elimination final at Walbundrie.
The sixth-placed Crows have proved to be the surprise packets after finishing the season with a 10-8 record.
The Crows have never previously played finals since crossing from the now defunct Coreen league in 2008.
Austin said his charges will enter the clash as underdogs after Culcairn scored a convincing 41 point victory in their only encounter so far this season.
"There is a real buzz around the club about making finals and it is a massive achievement," Austin said.
"There was a big turnout at training on Tuesday night and everyone is pretty excited.
"Obviously we are lacking finals experience.
"But will we head into the match knowing that we have got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"Nobody is expecting us to do much.
"We will definitely head into the clash as underdogs but there is a lot more pressure on them than us."
IN OTHER NEWS
The Crows were firmly entrenched in the top-six all season and scored their biggest win in round 11 after they stunned flag contender Osborne by two points.
Since that victory they have only played two sides inside the top-six for a win against RWW Giants and a loss to Holbrook.
The Crows were buoyed last week by the return of Josh Evans who missed the previous three weeks with a hamstring complaint.
The dangerous small forward bobbed up with four goals and will need to produce a similar result if the Crows are to spring an upset.
Versatile tall Ryan Davies is expected to miss with a hand injury.
"We hit a bit of a form slump over the past month," Austin said.
"I thought we were back to somewhere near our best last weekend against Henty for three-quarters.
"Then we went to sleep for a quarter and paid the price."
Culcairn were last week missing Nat Stroh, Shaun Turvey, Zach Mona and Jesse Sutherland from its strongest line-up against Lockhart.
High-profile recruit Adam Prior has been been in scintillating form over the past month with 45 goals.
Prior kicked eight goals last week to take his season tally to 99.
Austin could hand himself the task of curbing the in-form forward after playing on Myles Aalbers, Andrew Dess and Damian Cupido over the past three weeks.
Cupido kicked his only goal of the match after the siren to snatch the win.