Eels captain Clint Gutherson has already tasted premiership glory in 2019 coaching the Narraweena Hawks under 12s and he believes it can only help as he chases his dream of doing likewise in the NRL.
Gutherson brought his Narraweena team into the Bankwest Stadium sheds after Parramatta's victory over Manly last week as reward for winning their grand final.
"It's good to keep my mind off [NRL] footy and help the juniors out," Gutherson told NRL.com of his stint holding the clipboard.
With one competition in the bag, the 25-year-old fullback's attention is squarely fixed on leading the Eels to the ultimate prize for the first time since 1986.
The club's drastic improvement in going from last to a fifth-place finish in the space of a season surprised some but Gutherson had an inkling they were on the brink of success.
"We always knew that we had the team there [to compete]. We just had to put it together and lucky enough we did," he said.
"We probably let a few games slip at the back end that could have pushed us into the top four but we're happy to be here and we’ve just got to put a good month of footy together to be there at the back-end [of the finals]."
And while it's now sudden-death having failed to clinch that top-four berth, Gutherson is confident the Eels can lift the Provan-Summons Trophy if they play at their peak.
"It's the same thing – we've still got to have a good month of footy and that's what every team's looking to do," Gutherson said.
"Whoever has the best month of footy will win the comp. That's what it comes down to and we've just got to put everything into it and see what comes out of it.
"Obviously everyone looks to go all the way but we've got to take it week-in, week-out. It's do or die now. It’s exciting times and everyone in Parra is getting behind us."
Gutherson will make his maiden finals appearance in Sunday's match against Brisbane at Bankwest Stadium.
He was overlooked for Manly's 2014 playoffs campaign and missed out again due to an ACL injury when Parramatta qualified for the post-season three years later.
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"It's exciting [but] I haven't really thought about it too much, to be honest," said Gutherson, adding he would start mentally preparing for the game around Thursday after a couple of days to relax.
"Hopefully it's a sell-out on Sunday and once we sell that out we'll see how far we can go. [The Eels fans] keep turning up and giving us an extra leg.
"They've been there all year and they're not going to shy away now."
