But, then again, it's playoff footy in the 7.30pm kick off at McLean Park tomorrow so the prudent may well ask: "Do statistics really matter?"
Magpies assistant coach Danny Lee attests to that, outlining "there's only so much you can take from that [stats]".
Lee says the Lions are "a great team and they've shown that all year".
The visitors will farewell captain Jeremy Thrush as catalyst to their cause but so will the hosts rise to salute their skipper, Brendon O'Connor, who leaves almost immediately to ply his trade for Leicester in England.
"We're going to be in for a battle," says Lee, emphasising the need for the Craig Philpott-coached troops to pay attention to the minute details.
"We'll require 23 players to get through 80 minutes on Friday night."
For the record, Zac Guildford is out of that equation as he was in the semifinal amid some head scratching from Magpies faithful in trying to decipher exactly what's going on with the former All Black utility back.
It is the first time the two teams from the Hurricanes franchise are playing in a cup final as another catchment union, Manawatu Turbos, are relegated to the lower tier after one season at the top following victory over the Magpies last winter. The Bay coaching stable and players have brainstormed the merits of gaining promotion and "the guys have been on the same page all year".
Lee is the first to accept the Magpies haven't played their best rugby week in, week out in what he describes as "sporadic".
That does not detract from their quality of showing resilience when the chips are down on the paddock to eke out crucial victories.
"We've been building for three to four years now and we know how each other tick so we need to dig deep on Friday night.
"They'll [Lions] be throwing everything at us and they'll be confident ... ," he says of Wellington who have foraging loosies in Ardie Savea and Vaea Fifita while Jeff Toomaga-Allen and Reggie Goodes will prop up an engine room that will take some containing when stoked.
However, O'Connor is the yardstick for the season in the flankers' portfolio so with lock Mark Abbott's ball-carrying and lineout nous the Magpies have the credentials to get the job done.
The front row of Tolu Fahamokioa, Ash Dixon and Brendon Edmonds will be out to greet the gauntlet with equal fervour.
The electric Magpie backs, despite some of them under an injury cloud, should have the wood on the visitors who will champion old horse Cory Jane and Matt Proctor.
Pivotal to any such ascendancy is the role of veteran halfback Chris Eaton who needs to recycle ball with some urgency for first five-eighth Ihaia West to make educated judgments before igniting the backs' fuse.
Eaton has had a propensity to test referees' patience but any shenanigans tomorrow night will prove futile.
Hanging one's boots on the foundation of a stoic defence is often the stuff of finals footy scripts.
The Lions have been the best in putting up the storm shutters, leaking 192 points and 21 tries compared to the Magpies' fourth-ranked 245 and 31 tries.
But Lee reiterates it's all about turning up on the day to break the 2012 Premiership spell so it begs the question: "Where are the Magpies faithful?"
Says the former All Black halfback: "We have the ground advantage so we need a big crowd to come out to take the boys up there this year."
