ST MARY'S players, officials and supporters need no reminding of their recent finals performances against Nightcliff.
The Saints have lost the past two Men's Premier League grand finals to the Tigers, a record that will not sit well with the proud club that comes on top of a rare five-year premiership drought.
That task does not get any easier this week with preliminary final opponents Nightcliff standing in the road of another grand final and a chance for redemption against a Waratah side chock-full of confidence and momentum.
Saints coach Anthony Vallejo expects an entertaining clash from the last two grand final opponents.
"We tried to relax a bit and enjoy our footy against Wanderers last week and we did that by getting an important win that meant we live to fight another day,'' he said.
Vallejo is keen to field the same 22 that eased past Wanderers by almost 11 goals, with Shannon Rioli's calf soreness the only question on a possible inclusion to the starting lineup.
Rioli watched his side's win from behind a microphone after a calf injury kept him out of the semi-final.
"We'll see how he pulls up after training on Thursday,'' Vallejo said. "(Aaron) Heppell, (Lucas) Jellyman-Turner and Shaun Edwards were all good for us after coming back in last week and so was Matty Green.''
Nightcliff will welcome back at least four regulars for the preliminary final with skipper Phillip Wills and wingman Jonathon Peris back this week, spearhead John Butcher ready to go after a back related hamstring strain and goalkicker Trent Melville back from a week's suspension.
The last time these two sides met in a final was last season's premiership decider when the Saints snatched defeat from the jaws of victory after letting a three-goal lead slip in the dying minutes.
It's why three-time Nightcliff premiership coach Chris Baksh is wary of a fired-up St Mary's.
"It's always a good game of footy between us, so it's important we're finally fully loaded for a game where there is a lot at stake,'' Baksh said.
"We expect a tough game, but the players trained really well on Tuesday where there was a bit of a buzz around that probably made it the best we've trained for a while.''
Saturday night's clash is the first preliminary final between these two clubs since the 1968-69 season.
St Mary's won that final 53 years ago to qualify for the third of what turned into seven consecutive grand finals between the two sides from 1967-73.
The Buffaloes won the 1969 decider by 42 points on the way to a premiership four-peat that ran from 1968-71.
