The two most successful clubs in the history of the Women's Premier League meet in the first week of the 2022/23 TIO NTFL finals.
Eight-time premier Waratah and five-time champions St Mary's clash in Saturday's qualifying final at TIO Stadium, where the winner will advance to the second semi-final against minor premiers PINT.
Meanwhile, the season is on the line for last year's grand finalists Darwin Buffettes and Nightcliff in Saturday's elimination final underneath the midday sun.
The loser will drop out of the finals race, while the winner meets the loser of the Saints-Waratah final the following week.
In a twist, the four sides left in the premiership hunt have beaten each other throughout the season. Waratah thrashed St Mary's in their opening round game, but a rejuvenated Saints side repaid the favour in Round 17 when Paula Pavic and Danielle Ponter steered the green jumpers to a come-from-behind 13-point win.
First-year coach Paul Magher expects to field a similar side to the one that crushed a youthful Wanderers in the last round, the team's 12th win in 13 starts since losing their first three.
"They've (Waratah) got a couple of goalkickers in their side we struggled with early in the last game but contained late, so we'll just have to be tighter in defence,'' Magher said.
"(Kaitlyn) Armstrong has found a bit of form, I think she's kicked 28 goals in her last four matches so we'll have to watch what Waratah does defensively on her.''
Waratah kicked 54 goals in matches against bottom sides Wanderers and Palmerston in Rounds 15 and 18 and has Jenna Singh, Megan Hunter and Lisa Miceli to aim at in the qualifying final.
Coach Heidi Thompson will rely on the basis of last week's side, with the possibility of a "couple of changes''. "We'll be seeking a bit of redemption after going down by 13 points last time, let's see how we go,'' Thompson added.
Elimination final opponents Darwin and Nightcliff can boast a win against each other after the Tigers beat an inaccurate Buffettes side 25 points midway through the season and the double blue jumpers prevailed by 50 points in Round 16.
The Buffettes have been on the charge since beating frontrunners Waratah in Round 10 and St Mary's three weeks later. A six-goal loss to flag favourites PINT in Round 15 the only blot on an otherwise red-hot run of form.
Imarah Cameron around the ball, Molly Althouse in a ruck-forward role, captain Kylie Duggan through the middle and the multi-skilled Machaelia Roberts across half forward pose some big problems for the Nightcliff defence.
But Tigers coach Shannon Millar said her players were looking forward to a fourth consecutive season of finals football. "It will be a competitive match, we beat them (Round 8) and they got on top of us the most recent time we played them,'' Millar said. "They're obviously a very strong side, as are the top four teams this season, so we can expect a tough game of footy.''
Elimination Final: Darwin Buffettes v Nightcliff at TIO Stadium, 12.15pm
Qualifying Final: St Mary's v Waratah at TIO Stadium, 2.15pm
