The long-time champions will play a semi-finals match against Dubbo to kick-off the day, with the winner advancing to the grand final against either Bathurst or Forbes.

And even though a 40-9 triumph over Dubbo in their last meeting gives the Thunder confidence, they also know it leaves their opponents with a 'nothing to lose' mentality ahead of the grand-final qualifier.

For that reason, McCarthy's mindful.

"The pressure is definitely on us to perform," she said.

"We need to maintain intensity throughout the whole 60 minutes. We haven't been pushed by them yet but we can't afford to drop off.

"Having gone through the season unbeaten, we got a little bit complacent last week and we have spoken about that."

A different dynamic to the finals series is the increased match time as regular season contests were 30 minutes, while Sunday's finals will be 60 minutes.

It won't change the way the Thunder approach Sunday, although it's something the team needs to be prepared for.

"The game-plan stays the same but match fitness will be important, she said.

"A lot of the girls are still developing that as it's early in the season. I've got the luxury of a very strong bench and I'm very lucky to have that.

"All the players have to perform if they get their opportunity on the court."

A certain amount of this week has to go towards preparation, but that doesn't mean McCarthy isn't proud of what her women have done so far.

"We've gone through unbeaten and that's fantastic," she said.

"We talked about that at our last training session but we reiterated that semi finals are a completely new game."

On the other side of the bracket, Bathurst will square off with Forbes.

"That's going to be a great semi-final," she said.

"Forbes were able to get a couple of wins which was great to see. For Bathurst, their strength is in their shooting circle.

They have a lot of height. "When we played Bathurst, they came out absolutely firing and really put us under pressure in the first half. But first, it's Dubbo." Both semi-finals will kick-off at 10.50am with the grand final starting at 1.30pm.

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