Illawarra League 2019: Devils with point to prove at home

Unbeaten on the road, the defending premiers sit at the top of the ladder with eight wins and two losses, both of those defeats coming in their own backyard.

Dapto produced the upset of the season with a 16-4 win over the Devils at Parrish in round seven, while Collegians prevailed 26-16 at the same venue in round 11.

Saturday's blockbuster with Thirroul will be their first home outing since that loss and McLeod says his side need to atone on their home deck.

"We speak about making it really hard for other teams at Parrish Park, the good Wests teams play well at Parrish Park and we haven't done that this year," McLeod said.

"The two losses we've had have been at home. We've done all right on the road but at Parrish Park our form's been a little indifferent so the boys are pretty keen to turn that around.

"We've been looking for some form over the last couple of weeks because you want to be playing your best footy when the big games come.

"The boys have trained really well and I expect them to play well on the weekend. If we play well we'll give ourselves a good chance but we're going to need to be really good to beat Thirroul."

As far as regular season showdowns go Saturday's clash could not be any more pivotal, with the winner likely to claim the minor premiership and the loser could well drop to third.

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The stakes are high but, having been dealt a soft run into the post-season the last three years, McLeod welcomes a finals rehearsal so close to the regular season finish line.

"I haven't thought a whole heap about last year but I do remember starting really well and then in the middle of the year we had some poor form.

"Midway through the second round we had back to back losses against Thirroul and Collegians then we played against teams that were out of finals and had convincing wins.

"We got it together for the major semi-final but when I looked at the draw this year I was pleased we had some really tough games going into the finals.

"You want to be winning tough games at this time of year if you're going to go any good and that's certainly what we've got on the weekend."

The all-important top-two finish remains on the line but, in what's a similar view to Butchers counterpart Jarrod Costello, McLeod does not believe it's a must.

"It's an important game, and it's important that we play well but it's certainly not do or die by any stretch of the imagination," McLeod said.

"It'd be really good to win but I think for both teams, if you run first all good and well, if you run third both have got the players in them to give it a shake at the back end.

"This time of year is all about playing good footy and trying to get everyone as healthy as you can. Hopefully this weekend we get a few players back, we've had to use a lot more players this year than we did last year.

"That's the joy of coaching Wests, we've got a lot of depth and I was able to give a lot of kids an opportunity but at this time of year in the big games you need your best players and you need them playing well."

Elsewhere Helensburgh's finals hopes will go on the line against Berkeley while Dapto will jump into fourth spot, at least momentarily with the bye. Collegians will also return from a three-week spell when they host Corrimal.