SIRU men's coach Nick McCarthy has called on Peter Armstrong and Mick Roche, captain and vice-captain of the 2011 team, to talk to the players and present jerseys after Friday night's final training session.

It is all part of honouring the history associated with the SIRU jumper.

"It's a bit of a nod to the history, they were the first team in this run of championships so we wanted to get those guys back involved and show the playing group who started what we're trying to continue," McCarthy said.

"We're really excited about this weekend, in Wagga, in front of friends and families and clubs."

Having won 10 straight, SIRU will go in as warm favourites to do the job again over South Coast-Monaro at Conolly Rugby Complex, at 3.30pm on Saturday.

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Normally there would be an element of pressure associated with such a streak but McCarthy insists the only expectations are what the group have placed on themselves.

"I think the pressure is the pressure we put on ourselves in this situation," he said.

"As a zone, we're really proud of what we've achieved, there's been some absolute legends of our zone that have been involved with this program over the last decade, players and coaches, and we just want to continue that legacy on.

"The players buy into it, they understand the history, they work really hard with their training and preparation, they want to be part of that group of guys who've done this amazing feat over the last decade."

SIRU named their final squad earlier in the week, with McCarthy happy with the talent at his disposal.

"I'm pretty happy. Obviously there was a couple of guys who were in the extended squad who ended up unavailable for a multitude of different reasons, injury, family reasons, things that have popped up in the last week but we're really comfortable with the team we've picked," he said.

"We've got 12 guys coming back from last season and we've got a good balance of youth and experience in the side as well."

The forward pack is similar to last year's team that defeated South Coast 50-19 and Monaro 27-21. The backline, however, will feature a number of new players.

"We've been able to get some pretty key players in key positions so having Noa (Rabici) available at outside centre, we can build a lot of play around that," McCarthy said.

"He's been there and done it, we trust what he offers. We're really pleased to see John Vakatalai on one wing and Vincent Wise on the other, they're two guys who did great things for us last season and I think Lachie Day with some space at full-back will be really damaging. The fact we've got a really quality, young, but experienced flyhalf in Anthony Taylor, with what he's done in his previous rugby career, he's just going to bring it all together.

"The backline is really well balanced, between ball players, hard runners and some speed, so if the forwards can set us a nice platform, those backs will be able to cause a lot of damage."

McCarthy was also happy to appoint Liam Krautz as captain for a second year.

"He's just such a great leader for us. Actions. Words. On field, off field. Input into the way we do things and his buy in into what we want to do as well is outstanding and he's just the logical choice for it," he said.

"He's probably the preeminent forward in our competition and guys want to play with him. He's a guy that blokes follow.

"Adam Mokotupu is the same. Two real natural leaders in the forward pack, I think they can get the guys going in the right direction and set a beautiful platform."

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