BLAYNEY Rams coach Steve Hamson is expecting a tough, physical contest when his side faces off against competition rivals Wellington in the President’s Cup grand final on Saturday after his team beat Mudgee 15-12 in a thriller on the weekend.

Hamson said the Wombats pushed his side to the limit in a physical encounter.

“It was one of the most physical games we’ve played in, they really turned up to play,” he said.

“We were behind on both the score board and in the general run of play, we had to fight back into the game.”

Blayney’s Jack Ryan and Tom Thurston scored the necessary points for Blayney to come away with the all-important win, with Brad Henry putting in a strong performance at fullback.

But Hamson was disappointed by lapses in concentration that led to his side conceding some easy tries.

The Blayney coach said the team will need to work on their game throughout the week in order to stand a chance against grand final favourites Wellington.

“We’ll be concentrating on one-on-one tackles, breakdown defence, set-piece functions and our line-out ball,” he said.

Wellington have beaten Blayney three times this season - but Hamson is expecting Saturday’s clash to be a tight one.

“It’ll be decided by less than five points,” he said.

“We want to win it but we’re expecting it to be a fight.”

Blayney competed in last year’s grand final, where they were upset by Molong after losing only once during the regular season.

Hamson conceded it was nice to be the underdog this time around.

“There was a lot of expectation on us last year,” he said.

“It’s good not to be under pressure to win it this time around.”