HUNGRY Tigers, fresh from eight consecutive kills, ready to attack again without fear - Oberon is intent on making an impact in Woodbridge Cup finals.
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After a mixed start to its debut season in the Woodbridge Cup, having made the switch from the Mid West League, Oberon has certainly hit form.
The Tigers qualified for the finals in fourth position, having averaged an impressive 53 points per game as part of its eight-game winning streak.
It has drawn minor premiers Manildra, a team that has lost just once this season, for the first week of the eight-team final series. It is a non-elimination match.
While the Rhinos beat Oberon 40-10 in round two and will deservedly be favourites on Sunday, the Tigers are confident they can produce an upset.
Oberon secretary Neil O'Grady says that belief, as well as the momentum that comes with being undefeated since round seven, makes the Tigers a threat.
"They've got belief in themselves now, they're not over confident, but they know on their day they can mix it with the best," he said.
"We didn't arrive there until the second half of the competition, it has taken that long to build up.
"We've got the utmost respect for all the other teams in the finals, but while we've got respect we haven't got fear."
While centres Jacob Howes and Jayden Fagg are in doubt for the semi-final after being injured in last Saturday's 82-23 win over Cargo, the Tigers have the depth to cover them.
Captain-coach Abel Lefaoseu is likely to start in the centres, while O'Grady is in no doubt the key to upsetting the Rhinos will be the Tigers' forward pack.
It is one which is different to what Manildra faced in round two.
"The men's side, it took them awhile to get everyone back, people like Daniel Rogers didn't start the season, he re-joined the club," O'Grady said.
"Their forward pack is the strength, it's very strong. You've got Greg Behan back after he was injured, Caylib Marsten is playing some of his best football, then there's the stalwarts like Charlie Bailey and Luke Christie-Johnson.
Just as the Tigers men are on the hunt for finals success, so too is Oberon's league tag side.
Though they qualified in seventh spot and face a sudden death match against Molong, they carry the same sort of positivity into the finals as the men.
At the start of the season there was a question mark over the largely inexperienced squad, but they've beaten the likes of CSU and Orange Warriors and drawn with Condobolin along the way.
"We're very excited about that because coach Shannon Foley has rebuilt the team, there's only a handful of last year's squad that did pretty well," O'Grady said.
"She's got a brand new cohort that represents half the team and their background is women's tackle, so they're fairly new to league tag.
"But given that they're building a new team and a lot of the girls are still learning the game, it's a great result because it's a strong competition."
The Tigers' tag side have faced Molong, who qualified for the finals in sixth, on one prior occasion. The Bulls won that match 18-4 in round four.
O'Grady is hopeful they can reverse that, but even if that is not what unfolds he predicts good things to come next season.
"The good thing about that side is that they'll only get better because they're young, Shannon's got inexperience to mould," he said.
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