IT’S finals time baby.

Stratford is just one win away from making the East Gippsland grand final.

The Swans need to defeat Wy Yung tomorrow in the Second Semi-Final to make the big dance, a stage they are relatively familiar with, having won the premiership as recently as 2018.

In a break from the norm, the East Gippsland finals series will not be exclusively played in Bairnsdale.

Lucknow and Stratford have hosting duty for the first week of finals, before the remaining weeks are played at Bairnsdale City Oval.

The Swans have a sizable task ahead of them, playing a Tigers side that has been clearly the best team in the competition.

Wy Yung has held top spot on the ladder for the majority of the season, and took the minor premiership by four games.

Stratford fared reasonably well in matches against Wy Yung this season. Although they went 0-3 in the head-to-head stakes, one of those results was decided by only 12 points.

While the other two margins were by 40 and 34 points, the results indicate the Swans were able to hold their own in patches.

As the club prepares to have not only its seniors but reserves play finals, assistant coach Paul Nichols said the feeling among the group was positive.

“With this being the first finals for the league in two years, the team are quite excited about the challenge ahead,” he said.

“We’ve worked hard throughout the year to be able to have the chance in finishing second and now we are at the business end there’s belief in the group.

“Wy Yung are a very quick side, with fast flowing game play. We’ll have our challenge on how we can stem that style of football.

“They are a quality side and we have the upmost respect for how they’ve gone about things this year.”

When asked if there was a theme the side was running with in the lead-up to the finals, Nichols said the focus was more on continuing the work that had got them into the position they are in.

“There are a number of players this year who are having their first season with the club and first finals appearances,” he said.

“Alex Morcom played one game of seniors last year, and this year has been pivotal to our line-up playing majority of the season and finishing third in our best and fairest.

“There’s a few other senior players who have missed recent success, so for them to be fit and firing at the right time of year is fantastic for our group.”

Luke Elia, Jobe Somerville and Jock Overend were best for Wy Yung the last time they played Stratford, and the Swans will want to put the brakes on them.

IN the cutthroat final, Lindenow and Lucknow meet.

Only one will progress through to meet the loser out of Stratford and Wy Yung.

The match is set to be a close one, as just two points separated the sides when the ladder was finalised.

The Cats and Magpies are 1-1 this season, and both matches were decided by under 10 points.

MORE locally, Boisdale-Briagolong will be represented in the reserves.

The Bombers can make the grand final if it defeats Wy Yung tomorrow.

Boisdale-Briagolong has filled its trophy cabinet with magoos flags in recent seasons, winning in 2016 and 2019.