"If we play at 90% it's going to be tough for us to win, so we need to be firing on all cylinders," Wakatipu coach Kelvin Middleton said, on the eve of the Central Otago premier rugby final.
Wakatipu, winner of the round robin phase and holder of the White Horse Cup, takes on cross-town rival Arrowtown today for the chance to win the competition for the first time since 2005.
It failed to make the semifinals last season but beat Maniototo last weekend 19-11.
Middleton believed his side could do the job on the basis of 10 straight wins to finish the season and the talent within his side.
"Arrowtown are a quality team but I'm confident we can win", he said.
Wakatipu boasts some talented players, including Central Otago's top try-scorer in centre Danny King and his three-quarter partner, wing Mark Te Whaiti.
Middleton said the loss of second five-eighth Nathan Reid, who had been playing professionally in Spain before joining Wakatipu this year, was a "huge blow" to the team.
"He's the guy that provides the basis of our attack and sets up our Kings and our Te Whaitis."
Reid suffered a serious neck injury last weekend.
Other key players in the match would be captain Regan Pearce and flanker Marcus Balchin.
Arrowtown would likely be the underdog today but coach Hayden Finch was confident.
Arrowtown scraped through with a 21-17 win in the 84th minute of its semifinal against Clyde-Earnscleugh last weekend.
"We didn't start playing until the last 15 minutes," Finch said, "but a win is a win and we're up for the final."
This season, the finalists split wins, Arrowtown winning 32-17 in round one and Wakatipu taking the spoils 14-11 six weeks ago.
Arrowtown's forward pack will be its key, with workhorse players like lock Daniel Dodds and flanker Ben Chisholm leading the way.
Wakatipu v Arrowtown
Kick-off at Molyneux Park, Alexandra today at 2.45pm.
Wakatipu
1: Russell Longthorn, 2: Mark Asolatu, 3: Carrick McLellan, 4: Ben Macdonald, 5: Ben Sexton, 6: Henry Youngman, 7: Marcus Balchin, 8: Jake Lawrence, 9: Rich Stevens, 10: Regan Pearce (c), 11: Mark Te Whaiti, 12: Andre Broughton, 13: Danny King, 14: Tony Farley, 15: Brad Robertson.
Reserves: 16: Brad Patterson/John Adair, 17: Inoke Vi, 18: Rafael Tuhura, 19: Sol Frew, 20: Feleki Uhrle, 21: Karlo Aggerholm, 22: Todd Schmidt.
Coach: Kelvin Middleton.
Arrowtown
1: Matt Ropoama, 2: Nathan Pullar, 3: Ed Spence, 4: John Morrison, 5: Daniel Dodds, 6: Ben Chisholm, 7: Lee Murray, 8: Eddie Sefo, 9: Josh Brazier, 10: Dylan Fletcher, 11: Izzy Nayaloga, 12: Aidan Winter (c), 13: Rhys Chamberlain, 14: Matt Ryan, 15: Kane Dodds.
Reserves: 16: Hori Elers, 17: Jim O'Malley, 18: Dan Iosefo, 19: Hayden Youngman, 20: Daniel Eyles, 21: Shane Clearwater, 22: Tyne Schofield.
Coach: Hayden Finch.
