Raiders, Dolphins, Octopuses ready to make a splash in grand final weekend

With just two sides remaining in the top divisions, Wagga Water Polo will celebrate the end of their season on Saturday, where one club is hoping to secure two A grade premierships.

Raiders have earned themselves a position in both the men's and women's top grade finals, with Octopuses and Dolphins lining up against them respectively.

New to Wagga this season, Rory Maguire is confident defence will be the key to success in the men's game.

After taking a few years off Maguire has enjoyed returning to the sport.

Competition has been tight all year, with both the Raiders and Octopuses taking wins during their match-ups across the season.

Maguire is hoping to be part of the club's first men's premiership.

"Raiders have been in the grand final before years ago, but they haven't really been competitive for quite a while, so it's nice to have a new team in the final and competing for it," Magurie said.

"It's probably going to be anyone's game on the day, we've had a couple of training sessions and all the guys are really excited to be part of the day.

"I think also they're a little bit nervous because there is that hope that we can get it done."

Admitting his side has let themselves down in recent week with poor defence, it's been a point of focus this week for Maguire.

Ensuring they aren't dropping intensity when protecting their goal, the Raiders will need to make the most of the opportunities they get.

"They're a pretty dangerous team, so if we give them small opportunities, they'll probably take advantage of that," Maguire said.

"So if we're on the ball with that, we'll give ourselves a good chance.

"We're going to have to keep them to a relatively low score because, their defence is really good, so they'll probably be doing the same thing to us."

Across at the Octopuses camp, Ryan Menz knows their work is cut out for them.

Despite grabbing a handful of wins over their opponent throughout the season, Menz said they've all come after playing a fatigued team.

"It will be a very tough game, Raiders have been a very dominant side all season," Menz said.

"We've got a couple wins against them throughout the regular season, but it has either been on the end of them having a double header and it's their second game or having a player or two out.

"No matter what it's going to be a very tight game."

Menz said strong defence will be the game winner for either side.

"If we can shut down their key attackers and eliminate the possibilities to go into man down defence, getting a player excluded, that will really help us and give us a better opportunity for winning," he said.

In the women's competition, two very different teams are ready for battle.

After breaking her leg last week, Dolphins will be without playing coach Emily Gralton.

Despite it, Gralton has confidence her team can go well without her.

"I think we're all very excited, very pumped," Gralton said.

"Raiders is super tough competition, but we've come pretty close a number of times throughout the season into beating them, so we're just hoping we can have that extra bit of enthusiasm and excitement in the pool and just hopefully just get them.

"Not beating them this year yet, honestly just pushes us a bit more, it's just that last thing to do now and there's no better time than at the really end of the season."

Choosing to focus their energy towards their own game, not the opposition, Raiders believe they've got the right players to take the win.

Balancing fresh, young faces alongside a core group of experienced athletes, they're hoping to come out firing.

Lauren O'Hara said experience in grand finals will be a

"It's quite a good mix, I feel confident," O'Hara said.

"Hopefully we won't be as rattled, we have player who have been in grand finals where we've gone to extra time and penalty shootouts, and we've always managed to keep a level head.

"So I think having a really good mix of young ones, who bring speed agility, new ideas to the team and then mixing that with us seems to work really well."

O'Hara is hoping for a good battle, and while the nerves are starting to build, she is excited to return to the pool one last time this season.

Wagga Water Polo grand finals begin from 8:45am at Oasis Aquatic centre.