Lean is the marquee player for Valentine and will skip the triples for the Lakers against Aaron Appleby when they meet Kurri Kurri in the decider.

He was also the skipper in the triples last year as Swansea’s marquee bowler and beat Appleby in the grand final when the Skiffs downed the Cannons.

But the Cannons will start favourites on Friday night after beating the Lakers comfortably in both their meetings this year.

They finished in front of the Lakers by half a point in the minor premiership race.

But Lean said the Lakers would still be going into the match with confidence.

‘‘Our form has been solid all season,’’ Lean said.

‘‘Sure, Kurri have beaten us both times we have met, but both those matches were at Kurri where they have a very good record.

‘‘Playing on a neutral ground this time will be a bit different.’’

Alder Park has proven a happy hunting ground for Lean in the past. It was the venue where he won the first of six Newcastle district championships when he downed Frank Wilson in the final of the major singles in 1998.

Valentine will field the same team of Brendon Baker (singles), Ian Macrae and David Govan (pairs) and Col Fraser, Anthony Ellercamp and Lean (triples) that eliminated Swansea 9.5-5.5 in the preliminary final on Friday night.

Kurri Kurri have also retained the same six – coach and coordinator Nathan Dawson playing singles, Andrew Rees and Terry Antram (pairs) and John Wilson, Tony Harris and Appleby (triples) – who accounted for Valentine 13-2 in the major semi-final two weeks ago.

‘‘We have beaten them twice this season and we did it pretty comfortably in the major semi-final, so naturally we are confident,’’ Dawson said. ‘‘And also we did score a pretty good win at Alder Park when we beat the Stallions during the season.

‘‘However, there will be no complacency in our ranks because Valentine have been the big improvers this year.

‘‘For both teams it now all comes down to about two hours on the green on Friday.’’

Kurri Kurri will be chasing their second title on Friday having previously been successful over Ettalong Memorial in 2008.

But they have also been beaten on the last bowl in two other deciders, against East Cessnock in 2009 and Swansea last year.

Valentine are chasing their first title.

They were beaten by East Maitland in 2007 when Lean was the bowls development officer at the club and skipper in the pairs.