Group Seven finals expected to go ahead

Group Seven boss Jim McAuliffe expects this weekend's opening round of the finals series to go ahead as scheduled.

Most Illawarra and South Coast residents woke to sunny skies on Thursday after heavy rain fell over the first three days of the week.

The deluge threatened to play havoc with the first week of the play-offs but it now appears that games will proceed.

Gerringong host Kiama in Saturday's qualifying semifinal at Michael Cronin Oval, while Warilla are at home against title holders Nowra-Bomaderry in Sunday's elimination semi-final at Cec Glenholmes Oval.

"The sky is fairly clear at the moment and as long as we don't get any more rain today and tomorrow, games in all grades will be as per program," McAuliffe said on Thursday morning.

Gerringong finished second on the ladder, five points ahead of the Knights.

Of their two regular-season meetings, the Lions won 28-10 at Kiama before the Knights had revenge with a 26-14 win at Gerringong.

Despite losing their most recent clash with the Knights, the Lions haven't made any radical tactical changes.

"We generally try to stick to what works well for us," Gerringong captain Brad Davidson said.

"The last few weeks we've had three or four of our regular blokes out, but I'm pretty sure they'll all be on deck this weekend and it'll be our strongest side we've fielded for a while.

"We've had to blood a few young blokes with other guys out and they've been doing the job for us and, with the guys coming back, I'm pretty confident if we stick to our game plan that we'll definitely have a good chance of winning."

While Shellharbour claimed the minor premiership, Kiama were arguably the competition's hottest side entering the post-season.

"Obviously Kiama are on a bit of a roll, so if we don't turn up I'm sure they'll give it to us," Davidson said.

"They're just rolling forward and completing their sets and putting pressure on sides, and that's why they've been going so well. They like being aggressive, especially to start the matches, so we just have to stick to the grind.

"There's no doubt it's going to be a tight game because we're sort of playing a similar style at the moment. We have to make sure we turn up on the day and give ourselves the best chance.

"Hopefully we can hang in there for a while and our fast guys can work a bit of magic if Kiama start getting a bit tired."

Warilla take good form into their sudden-death showdown with the Jets, who lost three of their final four games.

The Gorillas seek revenge after losing to Nowra-Bomaderry in 2014's final.