This time around, Rats' 500-game legend Megan Shea said more was riding on the match, which will be played in Beulah.

"We've obviously got the longest trip to make this week, so it will be a big one," she said.

"We have to have a win this week to keep our confidence up going into the finals. We've got two other big matches coming up against Horsham and Minyip-Murtoa, and so we really need this as a motivator to get four points on the board. It'll be interesting but we really need the points to keep our finals chances open.

"We'll definitely be in the top five but if we go in with a few wins, we'll have that confidence psychologically as well."

There will be a couple of absences to account for in their strategy ahead of the match, Shea said.

"We'll be without Krystal Fisher this week because she's unavailable to make the trip," she said.

"So we'll have to be without her in defence, and with Raquel Scott out, hopefully we'll be able to hold our own in the defence.

"Delaney McLoughlan is returning on Friday and she hasn't trained for two weeks, so it could be a good thing because she's rested and chomping at the bit, or she could be a bit out of practice."

Shea said the side would do everything in its power to get up on the Giants.

"We don't want to go in thinking about maybe the possibility of two losses (to Horsham and Minyip-Murtoa) and then also have this unexpected loss - that's really going to deflate us," she said.

"We can't underestimate the Giants because they have some really strong players, especially in their goalies.

"We can't make that long trip up there and think it's going to be an easy game, because it's not. They are going to be very competitive."

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