Canterbury boasts strength in the midfield and Southern coach Dave Ross believes the key for his side is to control those exchanges.
''Our game plan is about stopping their midfield,'' he said.
''They've got a few weapons in the midfield with the likes of senior Black Stick Nick Haig. And they've now got [defender] Hayden Shaw playing for them. He has replaced Brad Shaw . . . so clearly we won't want to be giving too many penalty corners away.
''He [Hayden] retired from international hockey but he has still been playing and, while he is not quite as mobile as he once was, he is still a really good [drag] flicker.''
Southern beat Canterbury 2-1 earlier in the month and will go into the match with some confidence. The Dogs also boast a better record with five wins from seven round-robin matches.
Canterbury had three losses but it has the best defensive record in the league, conceding just 12 goals, and third-best attack with 21 goals.
Southern (19-17) has had to dig deep more often with two of its round-robin games decided by a penalty shootout. Black Sticks striker Hugo Inglis, despite managing glandular fever, has been in fine touch for Southern. He is the competition's leading scorer with 10 goals.
Canterbury has shared the scoring evenly with Haig, William Davidson, Mirco Pruyser and Isaac Staples all banging in three goals apiece.
The other semifinal will see defending champion Auckland play Midlands. The final is tomorrow.
In the women's tournament, the Southern Storm will play North Harbour in a crossover game. Potentially, the Storm can still reach its goal of finishing fifth or sixth.
But if it is defeated by Harbour, the Storm will play in the wooden spoon match for seventh and eighth tomorrow.
Harbour beat Southern 2-0 in round three and had three wins during pool play. Southern lost six consecutive games before it managed to hold Central to a 1-1 draw only to lose the shootout.
