Matt Burton is the obvious one, the Penrith Panthers SG Ball star and Australian Schoolboys champion leads the side around at five-eighth, while the likes of Joe Clarke, Aiden Lake and Todd Deveigne have all got a taste of Group 11 first grade this year.

And while they will all be key in Saturday’s all-Dubbo under 18s elimination semi-final clash with Macquarie, Fishies coach Bernard Wilson feels the entire squad heads into the finals series with confidence and momentum.

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“One good thing about us is we’ve got a bunch of quiet achievers,” Wilson said, highlighting halfback Jordi Madden as one of those.

“They get the job done and there’s no real fuss. People might look at others but at the moment it’s a really well-balanced side.

“We just need everyone to perform at their best to get the result we’re capable of.”

The side has been getting closer to its best in recent weeks.

After only winning once in the first month of the season and then losing three straight midway through the year, Wilson’s side heads into the finals on the back of three convincing wins.

A major part of that is a settled lineup, with even Burton taking time to find his feet after returning to the side from Penrith midway through the year.

“He’s like every other kid and it takes time to find your feet in a different rhythm,” Wilson said.

“He’s been involved with the schoolboys and Penrith so he’s had a lot on his plate and we’ve really only had him back settled in the last three or four weeks.”

While Wilson feels his side is more than capable of winning at Forbes on Saturday and keeping its season alive, he fully expects the battle with the Raiders to be one of his side’s toughest this year.

That’s not all due to the local rivalry, Wilson has never been one to buy into all the derby hype, he just knows the Raiders will leave it all on the field.

“I’m not expecting anything but an extremely tough game and we’re going to have to really be at our best to win, to be honest,” he said.

“They won’t need much motivation playing us and they’ve really got nothing to lose.”

While finals football is “a whole new ball game”, according to Wilson and many others, one positive for CYMS is a number of players have had to deal with pressure situations this season.

Burton has shown his ability to handle whatever situation comes his way while the other players who have had a taste of first grade learnt plenty from working under Tim Ryan.

“They see that next level and how Tim operates,” Wilson said.

“He runs a pretty tight ship and there’s some rules and regulations there but everyone has a role to play. It’s good to see how they stick to those roles to make the team successful.

“Players are happy to do whatever is best for the team and that’s good for us when they come back.”

The Fishies defeated Macquarie just two rounds back, scoring a relatively comfortable 22-6 win that day.

Burton described the performance as “sloppy” that day and winning while not playing at their best is something coaches and players have taken confidence from.

“It’s sudden death every week now and we’ve just got to keep our head down and try to stay alive,” Wilson said.

“We’re starting to get everyone on deck and finding a rhythm. The last three weeks we’ve been better and better but there’s still lots of improvement in us.”

The Raiders head into finals without a win in the past three games.

The match kicks off at 12pm on Saturday.