The Devils secured the minor premiership, and a week off, with impressive wins over Dapto, Berkeley and Helensburgh ahead of a final-round bye.

Throw in the wet weather weekend and it leaves McLeod’s men heading into Sunday’s showdown having played just two games in six weeks. It was a run that upset their momentum earlier in the season, coming out of the first round bye with back to back losses to the Butchers and Collegians.

They righted the ship with a comprehensive 38-6 win over Dapto in round 11, arguably their best win of the season, and McLeod is confident his side has done the work to ensure they’re fit and firing come Sunday.

“We knew we were going to have at least the one week off heading into the semis because of the bye in the last round and we were hopeful of finishing well so we planned for it,” McLeod said.

“I’m lucky because the majority of our blokes are young, they enjoy training and they enjoy each others company. We’ve shortened our training sessions up but there’s still been quite a few of them the last three weeks.

“It worked out pretty well because we had a few wounded because and we had a couple of tough games against Berkeley and Helensburgh so the boys have got themselves right and we’ll be close to full strength.” 

The minor premiership was a reward for a consistent season, with a heavy 40-10 loss to Collegians in round nine the only major hiccup. McLeod said he couldn’t have asked any more of his youthful crop.

“The boys had a really good preseason so I expected us to jump out of the blocks like we did,” McLeod said.

“During the year you always have your ups and downs and we had a couple of losses there in the middle of the season, but to fight back the way they did and get in a position to play in a major semi, I’m really proud.

“After we got beaten by Collies and we had four games to go in the season and we came up with four wins. We had a really good win against Dapto at home, so we had some quality opposition.

“Then we had two tough games against Berkeley, who were still fighting for a finals spot, and a tough Helesnburgh side so I’m pretty happy with where we’re at.” 

The Devils have built their season around a youthful spine, with halves Justin Rodrigues and Zac Greene and hooker Josh Daley among their best.

Fullback Tony Pellow also figured heavily in Paul McGregor Medal voting earlier in the season amnd McLeod is confident they’re ready to step up.

“They’re young but they’ve all been at this stage of the season before,” he said.

“J-Rod and Greeney have played a fair few games together now and Josh Daley’s played in a couple of grand finals as well. 

“They’re only young but they’re experienced at this level and they know we’re going to have to be good to get the result on the weekend.” 

The Butchers started their campaign with a draw and a loss before building their season on a solid run through the middle of their campaign, edging out Wests and Dapto in tight ones and sharing the points with Collegians twice.

With a round two loss to the Canaries their only defeat of the season, Butchers skipper Joel Johnson said his side will head into the post-season high on confidence.

“I think the middle part of the year we had a couple of games that really showed what we’re about,” Johnson said.

“That’s what we’re trying to live by as a club and I think everyone’s bought into that and knows we need to work hard for one another.

“We’ve shown what we can do against the good teams and we’re going to need to do that on Sunday.

“The last couple of weeks we probably haven’t played to that standard but we’ve had a good couple weeks preparing for this game so we’re hoping to emulate that mid-season form.”

The Butchers will like their chances against the Devils having fought out an 18-all draw in round one at Gibson Park before edging them out 20-16 at Parrish Park in round eight.

Johnson hopes their thoughts turn to that match in the lead-up to Sunday’s meeting.

“I think they’ve been looking over their shoulder at us for most of the year,” he said.

“Hopefully they’re had a few sleepless nights thinking about the game and that can have that little mental edge over them.

“At the back end of the game when things are getting a bit tight and a bit tough we can draw on that win we got over them at their home ground.”