While the reserve grade side missed out on the minor premiership this year, they are still determined to win back-to-back titles.

First grade will also feature in the Group 6 finals, with both teams in action at home this weekend.

The Ladies League Tag team will contest the division two title and will start their finals campaign in an elimination final against Moss Vale on Friday night.

After a shock loss to Oran Park a couple of weeks ago, the reserve grade Lions bounced back to defeat Narellan 24-18.

Ready to redeem themselves from the week before, Mittagong came out firing and shot out to a 24-0 lead at the break.

A couple of injuries in the second half didn’t help the Lions and with a big lead, coach Billy Hayward said the forwards switched off a bit which allowed the Jets back into the game.

“They have a big bench and I think our forwards were just starting to take the foot off the pedal knowing they had a big score and worrying about semi-final the next week,” he said. 

“Again our attitude wasn’t there and let them score some soft tries near our line.”

The Lions will now need to remain focused for Sunday’s rematch with Oran Park.

They  will welcome back Jordan Powell at hooker, Brayden Keeley and Alex Stone.

“Everything’s about momentum going into this time of year,” Hayward said.

“[This week] we’ll focus on our core skills, attitude and just mentally being right, We’ve got the squad to do the job. It’s just getting them out on the field playing our sort of footy. If we can do that we can beat anyone on our day.”

While first grade enjoyed a 54-24 win on Saturday night, it wasn’t an easy victory.

Both sides went try for try in the first half and the score was locked at 12-12 at the break before the Lions came out and put 42 points on them in the second half.

At home and playing their last game of the season, Narellan was keen for a win.

Lions coach Dan Beardshaw said against a “big, aggressive side”, the Lions didn’t mentally prepare and were a bit shocked by the Jets enthusiastic start.

A big positive for Mittagong was coming out of the match was no major injuries, with the Lions facing Camden on Sunday afternoon in an elimination final.

Again, some of the club’s younger players stepped up and the Lions had four players on the field who had come through the club’s pathways program.

Beardshaw said some of the team’s experienced players such as PJ Thornton and Rhys Neils also played well in Saturday night’s match.

He said Neils had been a standout throughout the season, taking some tough carries and making some good tackles week in, week out.

Dylan Palmer-Quigg is another young player who has impressed Beardshaw throughout the season.

Looking ahead to the match against the Rams, Beardshaw said it was shaping up as an exciting game.

“We have similar styles of play and we’re so close.

“As a coach it’s the sort of game you want to be involved in. It comes down  to what sort of performance we put in. If we hold onto the ball and play simple football and defend as best we can [we can get the win] and we have the best attack in the competition.”

The reserve grade match will kick off at 11.30am on Sunday and first grade will start from 3.15pm with both games at Mittagong Sportsground.