Launceston United are taking a radical approach to the club's first women's Statewide Cup final.
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Faced with the prospect of a dawn departure for Monday's 11.30am kick-off at KGV, the club has drawn up careful plans for transport, accommodation and an Olympia team that has already beaten them twice this season.
The team will travel down on Sunday afternoon in order to enjoy both a night's accommodation in the capital and co-coach Lynden Prince's bus driving.
Prince's coaching partner Frank Compton reported the team is in good shape and proud to be part of a showpiece long weekend featuring just three games statewide.
Although veteran defender Katie Hill is still out with the leg injury sustained in the second game of the season, United hope to welcome back Belgian playmaker Sofie Verhaegen and new signing Karla Jones who missed last week with the contrasting reasons of a problematic achilles and kids' cheerleading commitments.
Both finalists are coming off forgettable league results as United went down 1-0 at South Hobart while Olympia lost the big Eastern Shore derby 6-1 at Clarence.
"Neither of us had good last games but now we're looking almost as strong as we can be," Compton said.
"Being a cup final we may have to try something different against a team we have not been able to break down.
"We will need to put the pressure on them, particularly in the penalty box."
Olympia won 2-0 when the sides met at UTAS Stadium on the A-League undercard and also triumphed 3-1 at Warrior Park which began United's worrying run of three straight losses.
After cruising through the cup with big wins over Glenorchy (8-1) and New Town (15-0), United had to come from behind to win the semi-final at Kingborough.
Q&A with Franko
When last season's Northern champions Launceston United opted to step up to the statewide Women's Super League, former Riverside Olympic coaches Lynden Prince and Frank Compton took charge.
Midway through the season, the club sits third on the ladder and heads into a Statewide Cup final against Olympia at KGV on Monday.
A canny midfield general in his own right, we cornered Compton for an update on the team's progress.
What does making the final mean to you and Lynden?
We've been talking about this because it means a lot to us both.
If you look just at the league ladder you'd think we still have a lot of work to do. But the fact that we have worked our way through to a final, even though we were only really tested in one game, means we're on the right track.
We're looking forward to the big game atmosphere again. We had it at UTAS Stadium and played well there but left something in the tank so want to take the chance now we have it again.
For Lynden and me this will show us a lot. We're looking forward to learning how players will react to this opportunity.
How does your coaching partnership work?
I think we work well together and between us we get the message across. Some players need an arm around their shoulder the whole game and others want to be let off the leash and don't want to be bogged down with too much information. That's been a big learning experience for us both.
How do you feel about playing on the artificial surface at KGV?
Any manager would probably pick somewhere with a true surface but the fact that we're playing there shows that we're in a cup final and we're delighted to be in a showpiece like that.
We will deal with it just like Olympia must and if we win it will be a very happy memory.
We have not played at KGV because Glenorchy are in the Championship. We did play them in the cup but that was at home.
What exactly does English import Jess Robinson bring to the United team?
She brings many things. She has a real hunger which I hope will rub off on the others on Monday.
She does not enjoy doing anything that does not involve going forward. She's a real winner and someone we're very thankful to have.
Jess demands from us because she does not want to stand still and it's good to work with someone so driven to succeed.
She does not speak out of turn but we're very used to home truths coming out and it does not mean anything if you get pulled up by your peers. In fact, it means more because it means they want you to succeed.
You don't have to have an armband to be a leader and she is a team player and just wants the best for her teammates. And we're all on board with that.