Macquarie will meet Dubbo CYMS at Apex Oval in the final round of the Peter McDonald Premiership and the former has it all to play for.

Dubbo CYMS have already wrapped up the competition's minor premiership but for the Raiders, a win would mean they get a second chance in the finals.

Currently a single point ahead of Forbes Magpies on the ladder, the Raiders are pushing for yet another win, something which centre CJ Ralph is confident can happen.

"It's going to be a big game, our goal is to make the top two," he said.

"So if we win this weekend we are secured there."

While they are in the midst of a winning streak, Macquarie will come against a side who has just lost a single game all year which came against Orange Hawks back in round one.

It's CYMS' record which led Raiders captain-coach Alex Ronayne to label it Macquarie's 'biggest test' earlier in the week, something Ralph agrees with.

READ ALSO:

"We know CYMS are a strong side and they are going to come out firing," he said.

"But we've got to stick to our game plan and just stay calm."

Over the course of the season, Macquarie's attack has been brilliant, sitting inside the top four for points scored during the season and with the Merritt brothers (Jai and Josh) it is easy to see why the Raiders score points consistently.

Josh Merritt has missed the last month of football and will likely be out for Sunday's match but is in line to make a return to the Raiders 17 for their first-week finals clash.

Macquarie's last loss actually came against CYMS and Ralph knows their winning run might have been for nothing if they don't get the job done on Sunday.

"It's really good to get the six wins but I feel this weekend is a big one," he said.

"This one is the one which is going to count.

"We struggled last week in the first half against Nyngan, it was 20-all and a bit scrappy.

"We let in a few soft tries so we've just got to work on our areas to improve and take that forward this weekend."

Lining up in the centres, Ralph will come up against the competition's leading try-scorer Jeremy Thurston on Sunday, someone he knows quite a bit about.

"I know Jeremy is a strong centre, I've played with him in the past," he said.

"He is a strong player, a strong runner and I think I've just got to get up on him early.

"I can't let him run to me because I know what he can do with the ball, he is strong and can score a lot of tries.

"He is the top scorer in the competition so it's going to be a tough one.

"But I'm sure our side is going to be pretty confident, we've got a great defence."

Kick-off is at 2:30pm.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: