Northern Suburbs and Warringah have both been brilliant in the back end of the 2016 regular season.

The Shoreman have won 10 straight matches and secured a top three finish with a come from behind victory over Manly last week.

Warringah have been just as good and have dropped just one match in their last eight appearances – which included draws against Eastwood and Sydney Uni – and head into the finals full of confidence after beating Randwick last weekend.

“From my experience momentum is very important,” Warringah coach Greg Marr told Rugby News.

“The team is learning how to win in different situations by adapting our strategies to do what is required to win. That brings confidence and self-belief. We now know what to do to keep winning.”

Norths coach Simon Cron is just as pleased with his side’s preparation.

“To be honest we didn’t play our best rugby in some stages last week but being able to fight back from behind was a good experience for our boys,” he said.

Norths are a relatively inexperienced team in comparison to Warringah, but Cron doesn’t think that will be a factor, particularly playing at North Sydney Oval, where the Shoreman have lost just once this year.

“To be honest we have a good leadership group and key decision makers so I’m happy where we are at. Also they are all at home on a rugby field so know what they need to do,” he said.

Following the return of a number of key figures midway through the season, Warringah have average 36.5 points a match in the past eight weeks, but Marr is looking for an all round performance against Norths.

“Our focus has been on getting the basics right. Our scrum and line out, our kick chase and defensive structure. We just want to have fun and play footy when we have the ball – nothing too structured, play what’s in front of us,” Marr said.

“Norths are a talented team who play with a lot of width. We have to be patient in defence, try to slow down their ball and attempt to get at least parity at set piece.”

“We have to be on our game again for our 4th straight do-or-die game,” he added.

Ladbrokes: Northern Suburbs $1.65; Warringah $2.60

Northern Suburbs (1-15)

Ezra Luxon, Sam Kitchen, Lawrance Hunting, Nick Palmer, James Brown, Michael Smith, Will Miller, Hugh Sinclair, Mitch Magrath, Angus Sinclair, Lochie Creagh, Irae Simone, Jordan Heyer, Richie Woolf, Harry Burey.

Warringah (1-15)

Rory O’Connor, Luke Holmes, Mannaseh Alaga, Jack Tomkins, Ben Adams, Paula Kaho, Tom Connor, Sam Ward, Josh Holmes, Hamish Angus, Harry Jones, Rod Esekia Iona, Seb Wileman, Max Jones, Tyson Davis.