Josh Merritt may be the only Nyngan Tiger to have won a Group 11 premiership and he knows he is overdue for another one.
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Merritt and his Tigers teammates will have to endure a gruelling road trip this weekend when they travel across to Bathurst's Carrington Park for week one of the Peter McDonald Premiership finals.
![Nyngan's Josh Merritt is shaping up as one of the keys for the Tigers this weekend. Picture by Tom Barber Nyngan's Josh Merritt is shaping up as one of the keys for the Tigers this weekend. Picture by Tom Barber](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/118079462/6025b013-0394-47da-b6ee-ef3d46388d49.JPG/r867_686_3230_2182_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A former premiership winner with Macquarie, it's been a decade since the playmaker won a competition but he has faith this year's Nyngan crop can get him there.
"I'm not too sure if anyone of the other boys has won one," he said.
"But I won one a very long time ago so I'm well overdue for another one."
Merritt and Mason Williams have been massive inclusions for the Tigers this season, being key pieces around a young core which has had success in the under 18s already.
A lot of Nyngan's junior players are yet to make their finals debuts and will get the chance when the Tigers take on Bathurst Panthers on Sunday.
With a strong week of training under their belts, Merritt confirmed the side is fired up for the sudden-death match.
"The boys are keen and pretty pumped," he said.
"It's exciting times I suppose with finals coming around.
"I don't think any of the younger boys have played finals before but they will get a crack on the weekend.
They will treat it the same as any other game."
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Nyngan will enter this weekend with three wins from their last four matches, the only loss coming against Wellington.
A strong win over Dubbo CYMS last week has Merritt eager to see what the Tigers can produce.
"We've been playing pretty well," he said.
"There has been just a few little errors we've made which has let teams back in but our last month of footy.
"Hopefully we can take that into the finals series this time.
"The win over Dubbo CYMS last weekend has given the boys a lot of confidence."
Nyngan and the Panthers are yet to meet this season so both sides know very little about one another.
Having played representative football in the past, Merritt picked out three players he believes are key for the Panthers.
"Doug Hewitt is a really good halfback, he has been playing some good footy I've heard," he said.
"The Betts boys just keep coming at you all day. We've just got to be wary of their threats and control what we can."
Kick-off is at 2:15pm.
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