WEST HARBOUR captain Ben Martin has become accustomed to hearing the doomsayers of Sydney club rugby forecasting humiliation for most of their Shute Shield matches this season.
"Look at the sides on paper and people automatically are going to expect you to lose," Martin said. "But it doesn't bother us. We've had a good run playing with the underdog tag. We don't mind having it attached to us.
"It makes you want to prove people wrong. Saying that, we have been tipped maybe only three games all year."
Nevertheless, after 22 rounds, the Pirates are still one of six sides still in with a chance of winning the title.
Whether West Harbour, who placed fifth in the home-and-away series, can take the next step and finish this weekend as one of four Shute Shield contenders will be determined today when they play Eastern Suburbs.
Their match against Easts, who sit fourth, at Western Weekender Stadium in St Marys is the first of two elimination semi-finals, with the second being held tomorrow at Woollahra Oval between Randwick and Warringah.
The winners of both semis will then play Sydney University or Gordon next weekend for a grand final berth.
As for West Harbour's chances of extending their season by another week, Martin is hardly expecting the tipsters to suddenly start changing their tune now and predict an upset victory by the Pirates over Easts this afternoon.
"We are not expected to win," the Pirates fullback said yesterday. "We are attacking it with the attitude that we have nothing to lose. What we have been doing throughout the year has worked: throw caution to the wind."
Because of the relative inexperience of his side, Martin will try to minimise the pressure of a knock-out match on his charges by trying to defuse any sense of the occasion.
"From the start of the year, from our own expectation, we have achieved more than our own expectations," he said. "But it is a week-to-week process now. It is a completely different competition now.
"Anybody can win on any given day. And we have shown that throughout the year. We do take that into the game.
"But it is also going to be a daunting task. A lot of the guys haven't played semi-finals football before.
"It is a completely different speed, a completely different intensity … and hopefully our guys don't get overawed by the occasion and just treat it as another game of footy. That will be the last thing that I say to the boys."
If they do that, Martin is confident the Pirates can continue their knack of racking up points, like their 42 against Eastwood in last weekend's final round, or the 36 against Easts in their round eight win.
"It gives you a lot of confidence knowing you have a lot of people in the side who can score tries," he said - while reminding that the Pirates have a tendency to give away points - as their 62-25, round 19 loss to Easts showed.
"On the flipside of that, the last time we played Easts, we also leaked a lot of points. The focus this week has obviously been on defence, making sure everybody knows what their role in that defensive line is at all times."
Despite speculation elsewhere that their Wallabies star Timana Tahu might have been available to play after returning from South Africa, where he made his starting debut, Martin says the Pirates never considered it likely.
"We never thought he would play, especially when he was in the starting line-up for last week's Test," he said. "It is asking a hell of a lot of a guy to start a Test, travel back from South Africa and back up to play a club match."
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