Panthers Intrust Super Premiership NSW coach Garth Brennan is no stranger to the pressure of premiership deciders, having guided two Panthers sides to Grand Final glory in the last four years.
While admitting the nerves have already kicked in, Brennan remains quietly confident heading into Sunday's Grand Final against Wyong Roos.
"I'm excited. That's what you train all year for - the big games at the end of the year," he said.
"You always get a bit nervous and excited about it. If you weren't nervous, you'd have to ask some questions about why you're doing it.
"I'm confident, quietly confident, we can get the job done. I know the boys have trained really well all year and have put themselves in a good position."
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The ISP Panthers scraped into the decider with a narrow win over the Bulldogs at Leichhardt Oval last Sunday. Despite the Panthers controlling most of the game, a late try and a sin-binning gave the Dogs a real chance at snatching a dramatic victory.
"I was doing it a bit tough there at times (in the coach's box)," Brennan said.
"The boys hung on. One thing I will never question is their commitment, their desire and how hard they work.
"Our completion rate was really down, around 57 per cent, which is not going to be good enough against a side like Wyong."
Regardless of the result on Sunday, Brennan has already achieved his major goal for the season - turning up-and-coming Panthers into NRL players.
The likes of Dylan Edwards, Tyrone May and Moses Leota all started the year under Brennan's watch. And he thinks he's got a few more youngsters for Panthers fans to get excited about.
"That's why I coach," he said.
"It's nice to win Grand Finals but I like the challenge of developing young players into NRL players.
"Aside from Tyrone May and Dylan Edwards, there's some other guys you'll see in the next year or two that have benefited a lot from this year.
"Kaide Ellis has been fantastic this year... Corey Waddell has been very good and the year was a good learning curve for him.
"The big one who wasn't here last year, and I'm excited for his prospects going forward, is Jed Cartwright.
"The one that really came up at the back end of the year was Liam Martin. Liam could still be playing under-20s (but) I brought him up and he was outstanding."
The 2017 ISP Grand Final kicks off 6.45pm Sunday at Leichhardt Oval, with tickets available at the gate.
