EWK are coming off an impressive upset against reigning premiers Marrar and welcome back the league's leading goalkicker, Chris Ladhams (61 goals in 14 games) as they look to book a grand final berth.

"What Chris brings to the table, and with his experience, he's a good in for us," Hard said.

"We've won well with him and we've won well without him. It's good last week that we won without him and showed we've got a lot of forward options. I was happy with the way the boys worked last week and bringing Chris back should only help."

Hard said there's a good reason the Saints finished top and EWK will need to shut down their ability to run off half-back, as well as match their quality midfield.

But last week's win against the Bombers was clearly a step in the right direction.

"I'm really confident we have room to improve,' Hard said.

"We were good in a lot of areas last week but North Wagga are another very good side and we're going to have to be a bit cleaner and a bit smarter. But I'm looking forward to it."

Hard wasn't overly concerned about the fact they were four goals down in the second quarter.

"Ideally we don't want to have to come from behind but we had opportunities in the first quarter last week, we just didn't hit the scoreboard," he said.

"When you're not getting those opportunities at all, that's a different story... so it wasn't all doom and gloom."

Teenager Ryan Bourne makes way for Ladhams in the Hawks' only change.

"Young Ryan's unlucky. He played very well for us last week," Hard said.

North Wagga have named backman Matt Thomas to return from a hamstring injury. He's one of four key inclusions since their last game against the Northern Jets, along with Sam Longmore, Jack Flood and Kane Flack.

The Saints take a six-game winning streak into their first final, a run which began with a 13-point win against EWK at Gumly. The Hawks won a thriller at North Wagga early in the year and have beaten top-four opposition (Temora and Marrar) in the last two weeks.

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