The Dubbo Roos under 15s Blues side will look to the "brotherhood" within the squad as it looks to avoid the mistakes of the past this weekend.
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The Roos head into Saturday's Central West Junior Rugby Union grand final at Orange as the dominant and unbeaten team in the under 15s competition.
It's a position the side has been in before, as just two years ago they went through an under 13s season undefeated only to suffer a loss on the biggest day of the season.
"We don't want to choke again like we did in the 13s but it's feeling really good," co-captain Leo Bassingthwaighte said.
The unity within the squad is the thing driving the young Roos on.
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The bulk of the team has been together since their first year in the under 13s, when they were in the bottom age Reds team, and that bond has developed into the electric rugby seen on the field this season.
"It's like a brotherhood," Bassingthwaighte said.
"We've been together since the 13 Reds and new players have come in and mixed really well so it's a really good squad."
"Really good" could be seen as an understatement.
The 15s Blues side has been rampant this season and nothing showed that more than the 70-12 demolition of Mudgee in the recent major semi-final.
It all came together for the Roos that day, but they weren't resting on their laurels and were back at training last Saturday on a weekend off.
There they got to week with Dubbo junior and Wallabies prop Tom Robertson, who ran a clinic while in town with the NSW Country Eagles.
Later that day the Roos found out they'd meet Mudgee again in the decider after the young Wombats downed Forbes in the preliminary final.
"We've been working hard all season and we came down on Saturday just to make sure we don't get out of our routine and make sure everything is perfect for the grand final," Bassingthwaighte said.
"We just have to play to our structure and keep a calm head and that's about it."
The huge amount of representative rugby Bassingthwaighte and his co-captain Nosa Obaseki have played this season will ensure they keep a cool in the decider.
It's been a massive year for the pair, as they have both represented NSW Country and have also been named in the NSW Gen Blue under 15s squad which will take part in elite training sessions this month ahead of October's National Championships.
"I'm loving my rugby. I wouldn't trade this for the world," Bassingthwaighte said.
"Me and Nosa played NSW Country and made Gen Blue training squad ... it (Country) was a really high standard and everything had to be sharp. We played really well and almost got the win."
Bassingthwaighte put a lot of the success he and Obaseki have achieved down to the coaching at the Roos, adding coach James Austin has been helping the side for a number of years now.
The Roos meet Mudgee from 10.30am at Pride Park on Saturday.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior sports journalist for Western NSW, covering all that's happening in in Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and everywhere in between. Contact me at nick.guthrie@acm.media
