In years gone by, the wet weather which has hit Wairarapa over the past few days would have been seen as a godsend to Eketahuna because of their tendency to revolve most of their play around a rugged pack.
Not so this season though. With gifted runners such as Sam Monaghan, Robbie Anderson and Paul Tikomainavalu in their backs, Eketahuna have emerged as perhaps the most dangerous attacking side in premier division play and, consequently, the firmer the going the better for them.
Keeping Monaghan under wraps will be the number one defensive priority for Pioneer.
The former Canterbury representative might wear the No 10 jersey but he has an electrifying turn of speed which often helps him turn half-chances into tries. Indeed he is the leading try-scorer in premier division rugby this season, a hat-trick against Marist last weekend taking his total to the baker's dozen.
In flanker Rima Murarai, Pioneer have an openside flanker who will relish the challenge of keeping Monaghan in check. Murarai's high workrate on attack and defence has made him one of the revelations of the club season and placed him at the forefront of loose forwards contending for a berth in the Wairarapa-Bush Heartland squad.
His performance here could have a huge bearing on whether he is given the opportunity to strut his stuff regularly on the representative scene.
An intriguing aspect of this game will be the tactics employed by Pioneer and it wouldn't surprise if they forgo their usual high tempo approach with the idea of keeping the ball close to their forwards.
That would certainly suit the style of players such as Lee Ewe, Jaden Mason, Matt Kawana and Karl Thompson who all enjoy imposing their physical presence on a game.
Mind you, that can also be said for Eketahuna's hard men Brandan Young, Dan Udy, Hamish Walker and Jesse Williams too and that's not counting the vastly experienced Brandon Walker and Dan Griffin who will come off the bench.
The prospect of heavy ground conditions might just play into the hands of Gladstone in their fixture with Greytown.
While they have exciting backs such as Inia Katia and Cameron Hayton, it is the ruggedness of their forwards which appeals as Gladstone's main strength. Andrew McLean and Richard Puddy are inspirational leaders with John Stevenson and Lance Graves little behind them.
Players of their ilk will come right into their own if the game becomes more about "pick and go" than spreading the ball wide, particularly McLean whose bullocking runs have been a feature of Gladstone's performances all season.
Greytown won't exactly be flying the white flag if boggy conditions prevail as they too have some tough customers up front - think Kurt Simmonds, Norm Henricksen, Regan Pope and Daniel Gilmore for starters, but they would prefer it dry so that backs, including Joseph Sio and Kingi Kawa, would have a better chance of cutting loose.
Who then to make next weekend's grand final?
For the sake of argument we will go with favourites Eketahuna and Greytown but with absolutely no conviction whatsoever.
