TNL: Cavaliers ready for preliminary finals against Cripps and Devon

The Cavaliers' opens side are in a preliminary final as they welcome Cripps to the Silverdome on Saturday at 11.30am. Last week's loss in the qualifying final to Northern Hawks ensured they would have to take the longer route to the grand final.

Cripps will be no push-over after the opens' third-place side pushed the unbeaten Hawks to within a point back in round seven and five points in round 21.

The Launceston side's 19-and-unders are also headed to Devon for the preliminary final on Sunday at 11.30am as the Cavs look to continue their fairytale run into the decider.

READ MORE: Northern Hawks book grand final spot over Cavaliers

The third-place side in the regular season accounted for Karana 54-35 in the elimination final while Devon were defeated by Cripps 43-39 in the qualifying final. The young Cavs would have to claim their third win against Devon this season to book their spot in the decider.

Put it all together and the stakes could not be higher for Cavaliers.

"We do believe this group [19-and-unders] is very talented and we're coming into form at the right time of the season so its very exciting, we look forward to playing Devon on their home territory," Cavs' Dannie Carstens said.

"It's a huge weekend for our club."

The Cavaliers are seeing the silver linings of the preliminary final appearance as they aim to secure the fourth all-Northern decider since 2019 in the opens' competition.

"In order to beat the Hawks, we've got to have the last few things that we've got to work on right and the only way to work on it is a pressure environment," Carstens said.

"If you're not going to get it right now, you probably don't deserve to be in grand finals.

"Cripps are doing some good things in their game as well so there's no better preparation than coming into a team like that if you want to beat the best."

OTHER NEWS: Deanna Wadley reaches 150 games for Cavaliers

With a side that has seen many finals encounters in recent years, the reigning premiers are not taking their experience for granted.

"These girls have a lot of experience which does count for a lot in finals, they've all been in numerous semis, prelims and grand finals where the pressure has been on.

"We'll certainly be looking for those athletes to step up this weekend, they've got to keep doing what they have been doing but doing it better."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: