THEY'RE plumbers by trade, but Lachie Parker and Aaron Proctor are hopeful a long-awaited grand final berth is in the pipeline for Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong on Saturday.
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The Lions are looking to quality for their first decider since their 2011 premiership when they take on Leeton-Whitton in the AFL Riverina Championship preliminary final at Robertson Oval.
Small forward Parker said a 17-point loss to Griffith in the 2018 preliminary final has the team well prepared for what to expect as they look to secure a grand final berth against Wagga Tigers.
The Lions suffered a major blow when key forward Nick Murray broke his collarbone in the dying seconds of last week's win over Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.
The good news is Riley Corbett has recovered in time to return as a like-for-like replacement after breaking his foot in round two, while GSW Academy member Liam Delahunty will make his club debut.
"After the last prelim we played in the young boys have tasted finals now, and everyone's keen to go that step further," Parker said.
"It was a pretty quick game last week, a lot quicker than it has been during the season, but it's definitely going to be another step up this weekend.
"They (Crows) have got a pretty handy midfield, so we'll try and get on top of that and their forward line is pretty good too. They're handy all over the ground, but mainly our challenge is to stop their midfield."
Parker doesn't feel Corbett's inclusion for Murray will have any major impact on their forward set-up, but said it's up to himself and other small forwards like the in-form Louis Miller to put on defensive pressure.
"I don't think it will change our game plan too much. It will be handy to have a tall there and as small forwards, we'll have to work a bit harder to try and keep the ball in without Nick there," he said.
"We've got guys who can step up. Ben Walsh has been playing really good at centre half-forward and Louis has been really good, he's been kicking two or three goals a game."
The Crows finished minor premiers in the shortened six-week regular season, but Parker doesn't believe their opponents are under any extra pressure as a result.
"I don't think so, there's pressure on both of us," he said.
"We got predicted to finish a lot higher (than third) and a couple of close losses (against Tigers and Leeton-Whitton) we should have finished off hurt us.
"We've got to stop their run and we need to have a much better start (than we did last time against them)."
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