Trawling back through the annals of Blowes Clothing Cup grand finals there's been one common denominator, one key factor that's sparked every premiership-winning outfit's decider success.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That consistent catalyst is the scrum, a mysterious and much-pondered facet of the game that's intricacies are only truly understood by those who pack down in the front-row.
It's certainly been a massive influence during Orange Emus' recent run of consecutive grand final appearances, the greens will play in their sixth straight decider against minor premiers Bathurst Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
They're always really good battles with Bathurst though, they've got a good scrum.
- Emus prop Nas Havealeta
Last year Emus dominated Bulldogs at scrum time in the big dance and went on to win, the year before the greens were bested by Forbes and lost that grand final, 12 months after taking the Platypi's pack down and winning in 2016.
In fact in the latter it was a scrum penalty that gave Nigel Staniforth a chance to kick his greens to a 14-11 win after full-time.
If you go back further nothing changes, Emus pushed Orange City around in 2015 and hoisted the trophy and the year before that were monstered by a rampant Kangaroos pack, one that inspired the Kangaroos' 42-24 win.
You're starting to get an indication of who might be the most important players on the field for Emus now, aren't you?
Nas Havealeta, Charlie Henley and Michael Graham form a pretty imposing starting front row for the greens and with the likes of Cody Perrott, Al Hattersley and Tom Goolagong potentially in the mix from the bench, there's obvious strength.
But they were pushed around a bit by Bulldogs in their 23-21, major semi-final defeat a fortnight ago, in fact the Bathurst side managed a rare pushover try, and so the greens will need to lift this weekend.
"We'll try to be stronger at the scrum this weekend, for sure," Havealeta said.
"They're always really good battles with Bathurst though, they've got a good scrum and some good forwards and their backs play from that, we need to try and get our backs some good ball there.
"They work really well together as a unit, Bulldogs, and we all know how important the set-piece is in big games. Not just the scrum though, the lineout too so we'll be working hard to make sure both are functioning well come Saturday," Graham added.
They were in last weekend's preliminary final win over Cowra, Emus' dominance at the scrum was obvious for all to see and it gave the greens' backline plenty of room to move, which they took advantage of to romp home 45-10.
The greens set the tone from the very first set-piece of the game, winning a scrum against the head that lead to a Henley try a few phases later, the hooker taking advantage of a nice hand-off from Graham.
WATCH: Charlie Henley latches onto a Michael Graham hand off in Emus' win over Cowra...
"You always want to try and set the tone early but Cowra's scrum was still strong," Graham said.
"Last weekend was a good win and a good way to bounce back from the major semi-final loss a week earlier, hopefully we can back that performance up."
"They've been good games all year with Bathurst, not much in them, so I think this one will be good to watch too," Havealeta added.
Bathurst well and truly have the bragging rights over Emus this season having won three of their four encounters and are on a serious run at Ashwood Park.
They've built their home ground into a genuine fortress and their winning streak there now stands at 22 games, stretching all the way back to 2017.
Emus were the last side to beat Bulldogs there, in fact, in round nine of that year.
"They always play really well at home and they're a tough side, a bit more experience than last year so it's going to be tough," Havelaeta said.
"We'll definitely go in as underdogs now obviously but we don't necessarily mind that, all the pressure's on Bulldogs," Graham added.
The top grade decider will kick-off at 3.15pm at Bathurst's Anne Ashwood Park.
- ORANGE EMUS: 1 Nas Havealeta, 2 Charlie Henley, 3 Michael Graham, 4 Sam McLean, 5 Nick Hughes-Clapp, 6 Simon Badgery, 7 Sam Greatbatch, 8 Scott McLean, 9 TJ Cunynghame, 10 Jamil Khalfan, 11 Tom Green, 12 Lachie Harris, 13 Tom Joseph, 14 Carter Hirini, 15 Levi Russel
WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS AND SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...