After 10 weeks of intense life in the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball hub in Queensland, the NSW Swifts' hopes of back-to-back titles hinge on them finding Premiership-form against the West Coast Fever on Sunday.
The Premiers and West Australians will contest the Minor Semi Final at the University of Sunshine Coast with the winner booking a place in next weekend's Preliminary Final against the Melbourne Vixens or Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Having taken the long route to championship success last year, head coach Briony Akle knows the Swifts have what it takes to hit their straps at the right time, but with a red-hot Fever outfit to overcome on Sunday, the victor of the Minor Semi is pretty hard to call.
The sides have met twice already this season with the Swifts chasing down a 15-goal deficit in Round 3 to claim the spoils in the first game, before very nearly doing the same thing in their second meeting.
Akle knows her side got out of jail in the Round 3 clash, and left their run far too late in game two. This time out she's determined not to let the Fever build up a head of steam early.
"When you have a target like Jhaniele Fowler in the shooting circle and a defence that's shored up by Courtney Bruce you have to stay with them early," she said
"We produced a fantastic third quarter against Fever early in the season to save us but both times we've played them this year we've let them get away too far and too early.
"That came back to haunt us later in the year when we nearly ran them down, but ultimately they'd learned from Round 3 and had the smarts to see out the game.
"We cannot afford a repeat of the same on Sunday. A lot of them will be high on confidence, especially Verity Charles who is in career best form, and Alice Teague-Neeld is a real threat with Super Shots, so analysis has been key this week."
The Premiers welcome Helen Housby back into the squad this week after she missed last weekend's Round 14 draw with the Giants with a stomach bug.
The England international is set to play her 50th Super Netball game, and 50th in Swifts colours.
"Helen is a player for the big occasion and an elimination final is a pretty big stage to play your half century in," Akle added.
"She's won a Premiership with us, and won Commonwealth Gold, so having a player of that calibre come back into the squad is a huge boost ahead of the biggest game of the season.
"But Helen aside we have a team-full of Premiership champions going out there to keep our season alive. We've to got the right soldiers, it's just about making the strategy work."
The Swifts' Minor Semi Final clash with Fever will be broadcast live on Channel Nine and Telstra's Netball Live App at 1pm (Sydney Time) and 12pm (QLD time).
