Could Brett Gilly be the surprise strike weapon with the ball for The Rail?
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Gilly has been content in his role with the gloves, but shock move against Kookas to roll the arm over, with great effect.
His spinners snared 3-19 off 10 overs in their 108-run first innings win, backing up with three maidens from four overs after forcing Kookas to follow on.
The Rail's captain is taking a cautious approach to bringing himself on in the upcoming finals.
"Hopefully I won't have to be bowling," Gilly said.
"I never bowled in first grade before, but I do at training and it was an opportunity to try something different.
"I certainly let the boys know about it afterwards, but I'd like to think I won't be needed."
For all of Lake Illawarra's dominance in the past four seasons, The Rail have an opportunity to snatch top spot for the finals by beating them in the last-round two-day match, starting on Saturday.
The Rail are 10 points behind them, but could overtake them with victory.
"It's the perfect test for us before finals," Gilly said.
"You want to be winning games at this stage and finishing with the minor premiership is one of the targets you want to achieve.
"We know we're going to have to push for a result, but Lake are always pretty aggressive in the way they go about it too."
Meanwhile, Oak Flats will be determined to hold on to their finals spot in a showdown against Kiama, who fell 12 runs short of a remarkable run chase against Albion Park last Saturday.
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Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
