It has been a long time coming, but Karlie Robards and Sabina Gomboso plan to make the most of another Newcastle championship netball grand final appearance at National Park on Saturday.
The pair are the only University of Newcastle players to have featured in Newcastle's top-tier major title decider.
They played in three straight with Bilbie Dan then Forsythes, who became University in 2020, between 2014 and 2016 without winning one.
It is something they hope to change against three-times champions West Leagues Balance this weekend.
"The year has been long and gruelling but it is nice to be in the grand final in Newcastle," Gomboso, who also plays NSW Premier League for North Shore United, said.
"It's the only competition I've played in that I haven't won, and this will be my fourth grand final in the 2HD/Greater competition."
The towering goal shooter was a key player as North Shore United beat Central Coast Heart in the NSW Premier League grand final in Sydney on August 6.
The 26-year-old shot 48 goals in the 62-51 win over Central Coast. In the Heart team were West players Maddie Taylor and Sammie Chicken.
"We're all having two grand finals this year and I'm hoping for two wins, but I'm sure they're hoping for a win to make up for that loss," Gomboso said.
Fourth-placed West defeated third-placed Nova 72-43 in the minor semi-final before downing Lions 49-45 in the preliminary final.
West have been unbeaten in the grand final since entering Newcastle's competition in 2017 but finals have not been held for the past two years due to COVID.
"I feel very confident in my team," Gomboso said.
"We're really strong and everyone has each other's backs. What we've been doing really well this year is if another team is up a couple of goals we don't let that get in our heads. We just keep playing and always seem to claw it back.
"It will definitely take the whole team to be able to win, but we're all just really happy that we've even made it this far. It's good to be able to have another crack at it."
Robards, who is University's captain and centre, believes consistency could prove key for her side.
"We've had the core of our team together now for the last few years and I think that has really helped with our cohesion and flow across the court," Robards said.
"We are feeling much more confident in our ability as a team to get over the line in those really close games and get the job done, but it will be a very tough game against West and it will certainly take every single one of our players to be able to get the win against them.
"We are quite determined to win because we have come so close [to making the grand final] in the years prior to the last two when we haven't played. We're really keen to win the championship for ourselves, for [coach] Traci [Baber], and for all of our supporters that have always been there for us."
University won both exchanges with West during the season - 50-39 in their first encounter then 47-44 in the second.
But West have not had a full complement until finals due to players' NSW Premier League commitments.
"Even though we were the first team to secure our place in the grand final we still feel as though we are probably the underdogs, just given West's track record and history and how they've won the three years prior to not playing finals," Robards said.
The championship grand final is at 3.30pm on Saturday.
Souths play Nova in the opens grand final (2pm) and West take on Souths in the 23s match (12.30pm).
