Souths are set to again battle West Leagues Balance in the Newcastle open netball championship decider after booking passage to their sixth straight grand final appearance with a five-goal win over Forsythes Business Advisors on Saturday.
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The preliminary final was played indoors at Hunter Sports High after wet weather forced the postponement of all finals at National Park Netball Courts.
The Lions, who were champions from 2014 to 2016 but have lost the past two championship deciders to West, led at every change but were never comfortable.
They were up 13-9 at the first break, 28-22 at half-time then 46-33 heading into the final period.
Forsythes, who went 10 rounds unbeaten before losing their final four matches this year, staged a fourth-quarter fightback but could not bridge the gap against a determined Lions outfit.
An emotional Souths coach Trude Yen said it had been the "hardest journey by far" to a grand final. The Lions had already lost Narelle Eather and Danielle Taylor to season-ending injuries before wing defence Eliza Hand suffered the same feat last week.
"For us it came down to team work," Yen said of the win.
"It really came down to everybody working together and putting in the effort - no one leaving it up to anyone else.
"There was never a time when they put their heads down and, as a coach, that's just so inspiring.
"I'm so proud of them. It's been a hell of a year and I wouldn't wish it on any coach. After everything that we have been through, how proud can you be to get to the grand final."
Former national league player Tiffany Gilmour made a return for Souths at wing attack after several weeks out with injury.
"To have Tiff out there in that leadership role; we haven't had that for quite a while," Yen said.
"Obviously the other girls have stood up and it's been brilliant to see but with the added addition of Tiffany certainly brings a different perspective into that attack.
"We got off to a great start. Our plan was to be well ahead in the first half. We did that. Even though they crawled back in that last quarter, we had the advantage."
For Forsythes coach Traci Baber and her team it was a devastating end to what has been a strong season. They took the court without starting centre Kim Williams on Saturday due to a leg infection.
"It's disappointing for the girls because they played so well through the season," Baber said.
"Kim came out today but there was no way she could play. But no excuses. We probably just didn't want it enough in the first half. We made some really silly errors. They were defending everything and going after everything.
"You're not going to come back from 13. We won that last quarter by nine which is outrageous, really, but consistency in the last four weeks has been our problem."