No Fred and Henri Gardner, no Sharks. It was the opinion of many that the loss of the goal-scoring brothers would end the reign of the 2018 unbeaten Pascoe Cup premiers.

The club itself had other ideas, creating other ways to find the back of the net and book another grand final berth against Hanwood on Sunday at Equex Centre.

"We've talked about that, if we were to win this year it would probably be our greatest achievement," coach Mitch Tinnock said.

"We lost Fred and Henri and we had people telling us in pre-season we wouldn't even make finals, so it was good to prove those haters wrong.

"We were hearing whispers behind our backs that we were a two man team, basically, and had no real chance without them.

"It was only a few people that rated us, but we always knew we had a good squad so to prove them wrong was pretty satisfying."

The return of the skillful Cam Mavor, who has played mostly left wing, and the emergence of James Trevaskis on the other flank has helped fill the void.

The burly Kane Baumer has also been a fruitful scorer after up shifting from defence to be a target up front.

"Jimmy's been crucial to that and Mavor as well. People like Jimmy, Liam stepping up when needed, we've got a big squad who can do a job when someone's away," Tinnock said. Jimmy's goals have been crucial for us, he's been a real find."

Sharks captain Ben Angel always had belief they could fill the Gardner boys' shoes.

"The view from outside the club was we're pretty reliant on them for goals, but we've proved we've got other avenues to do that and it's probably given us more variety in attack as well," he said.

"We're not relying on one or two to score goals, it's been a pretty even spread of goal scorers throughout the year.

"We've made eight grand finals in ten years and I don't think we've ever relied on one or two players in that time.

"That old saying that a champion team will always beat a team of champions. Our biggest strength I think is we are very even across the park and if someone's having a down day, there's always three or four others who can cover that load."

Mavor, who returned to the squad this year after a season off to focus on his building business, doesn't mince his words on what is driving the team before Sunday's decider.

"We definitely don't want to see a Griffith side coming into the comp and winning the cup. We want to keep it in Wagga, that's big motivation for us," he said.

"Hanwood were top of the table and they have everything to lose really. It's a lot less pressure for us (compared to last year's unbeaten campaign), and more pressure on them.

"It's taken a lot for us to adjust, the Gardner boys both have pace and can finish, so it's taken a while to get our attacking side going.

"I'm not really familiar with being on the wing, I've played it a lot but midfield's my preferred position."

Mavor may return there on Sunday if classy midfielder Jamie Rankin doesn't recover from an ankle injury he has been carrying for weeks which finally forced him off in the preliminary final win over Henwood Park.

"I grew up playing midfield through the ranks, it's been a while since I've played there but if Jamie can't do it I'm happy to step up into the role," he said.

"It was hard paying Jamie's role because we're different players with different styles, but I think we'll be fine."

Trevaskis began the year in reserve grade but has been an instant hit since being elevated to the Pascoe Cup.

He was the first player to score against Hanwood this season after the Griffith club went through the first eight rounds of their return to the Pascoe Cup without conceding a goal.

The 20-year-old also scored the decisive goal in last week's win over the Hawks.

"To get that first one against them to break their streak was a good feeling," he said.

"(In first grade) I just wanted to do what I could for the team, and if I'm not scoring set a few up.

"The guys in the first grade team made me feel welcome and kept supporting me which has made the step up a lot easier."

The Pascoe Cup grand final is scheduled to get underway at 4pm.

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