The Tigers trailed minor premiers Ryde-Eastwood 12-0 early, but struck back to cut the margin back to six. The Hawks scored either side of halftime to lead 24-6 before the Tigers hit back through livewire winger Will Russell.

It gave them a sniff but it proved the final points of the match, with the Hawks grinding their way to a grand final showdown with Cronulla Caringbah.

Getting within one game of the decider, after only entering the competition seven days before the season kicked off, is a fine achievement and Lennon said he couldn't be prouder.

"We left everything out on the field, Ryde will definitely know they were in a final and might be a little bit worse for wear heading into the grand final against Cronulla," Lennon said.

"We made some silly errors and cost ourselves at times but we didn't die wondering. I was very proud of the effort, we know within ourselves we let it slip a little bit but that's footy.

"Hopefully we can hang onto those guys that joined us and helped us improve and come up to that Sydney Shield level next year. I'm proud of the strides we made and it shows, as a club, we're going the right direction. To have such a successful season across the board is a pretty amazing effort."

The Tigers also fielded sides in the Illawarra Open age and second division competitions, the latter forcing its way into a grand final showdown with Wests after defeating Windang 36-16.

It was enough to sneak past Figtree into the decider after the Crushers suffered an untimely 50-30 defeat to Avondale, while the Greyhounds open age side suffered a 72-10 defeat to last-placed Dapto having already secured their grand final spot. Thirroul had also punched their grand final ticket prior to their 32-18 loss to Wests.