The Panthers must beat their fierce rivals, and hope East Albury can upset Albury, to snare second spot and the guaranteed second chance.

"We've got our full complement of bowling this weekend, we always look forward to playing North Albury and I think vice-versa," coach Daryl Tuffey offered.

Lavington will roll out the bowling firepower with Tuffey, David Tassell and siblings Ryan and Nathan Brown to join representative off-spinner Michael Galvin for the first time since the 2018-19 grand final series against North.

The only quick missing from that side, which was regarded as the best fast bowling attack in 25 years, is Darcy I'Anson, who's back at Brock-Burrum in CAW Hume, while ex-NSW Country paceman Brett Davies played the first half of the year, but was then injured and didn't regain his spot permanently, finishing in second grade.

After being smashed by nine wickets in the first of the three-game series, North produced one of the great comebacks to win 2-1.

NSW Country quick Ryan Brown completed his first provincial match in three months last round after finally overcoming a side strain suffered at rep level against ACT in January.

He took 1-19 from 10 overs to play a vital role in restricting East Albury to 8-164 from 50 overs.

Former captain Sam Harris will play his first game in a month, while wicketkeeper Tyler Roberson is back from university.

It means Chris Galvin is the only player missing from the Panthers' best team and he'll return for finals the following week from university in Sydney.

"It makes our job a bit more difficult as selectors because the guys did a great job, eking out a win against East Albury, it's a good problem to have and our B grade also did really well," Tuffey explained.

Lavington has three under 16 players in Brady Marshall, Eddy Schultheis and Oscar Lyons, highlighting the club's strong junior program.

That depth has been critical in the resurgence.

After eight rounds, albeit affected by rain, the Panthers had only one win. In the last 13, they've only lost one against Albury on January 30.

After this weekend's final round, the association will play its first two weeks of finals on successive days, which will test most players, particularly 42-year-old Tuffey if the Panthers were to win through to Sunday, March 14.

"Yeah, it's getting harder," he laughed.

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"I played a double header a couple of weeks ago and was a little bit sore, but I guess when you're winning, you always feel a bit fresher."

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The Panthers will host the Hoppers at Lavington Sportsground No.2.