ORANGE Emus plan to up their level of physicality on Sunday to try and keep their Blowes Menswear Cup finals campaign alive.

The Emus will travel to Narromine to take on the Gorillas in the first grade minor semi-final.

Fresh from a tough 39-13 elimination semi-final win over Dubbo Rhinos last Sunday, Emus co-coach Mitch Staniforth said his team plans to continue with a physical style of play in an attempt to stay in the finals.

Emus’ win against the Rhinos last weekend was the icing on the cake for Staniforth, after his side lost six games from seven starts in the first half of the season.

“The win against Rhinos was really satisfying,” he said.

“But we’ll need to focus on ball handling and show some more discipline to beat Narromine.”

The Gorillas routed Emus 45-8 in their last encounter with Narromine’s Doug Porter tearing the Orange side apart with several intercept tries.

But the Gorillas player Staniforth fears most is five-eighth Sam Ward.

“Their backs are quite quick and Sam steers them all around the paddock. Our defensive effort will be very important,” the Orange mentor said.

But despite being dominated by the Gorillas in their last meeting, Staniforth is positive his side can keep it a lot closer on Sunday.

“We have nothing to lose. It’s finals football and anything can happen,” he said.

Staniforth’s Emus will need to be strong at the breakdown and in their set pieces, while remaining prominent in defence if they are to stand a chance against the Gorillas on Sunday.

Emus will be without inside centre Mitch Dansey after he broke his leg in last weekend’s game.

Charlie Sullivan is tipped to take Dansey’s place in the run-on side.

While the coach is confident in the ability of his squad, he is relieved they’ll be walking onto the field as underdogs.

“There’s more pressure on Narromine, what with their record and all,” he said. “No one thinks we can win, but that’s how we like it.”

In tomorrow’s first grade major semi-final Dubbo Kangaroos will host Bathurst Bulldogs.

ORANGE EMUS: 1 John Ellis, 2 Al Hattersley, 3 Mark Kingham, 4 Nick Luelf (c), 5 Nick Hughes-Clapp, 6 Aaron Hansen, 7 Scott Bouffler, 8 Keith Howarth, 9 TJ Cunynghame, 10 BJ McKenna, 11 Ben Ruddy, 12 Charlie Sullivan, 13 Owen Thomas, 14 Nik Granger, 15 Joel Plummer.