"It is do or die and it is totally up to how we play," Walters said.

The Highlanders take on the Narrabri Blue Boars to fight for a grand final berth against the Tamworth Pirates next week.

"We do have the fitness and the ability to play at the highest level," Walters said.

"We also have the attack and defence skills to be the best on the day and we definitely have the talent.

"But if this is not used we will struggle, so what it comes down to is 100 per cent mental application."

The last time the Highlanders played Narrabri they were only switched on for the first half of the game.

"But when we showed our defensive side against Moree a fortnight ago we managed to get them using brutal defence," Walters said.

"We need to do the same this weekend - and play the whole 80-minutes.

"We let Narrabri catch us in the second half but this time we will hopefully get their defence to break easy and expose a few more holes in their game.

"It has been a long year and it hasn't been easy but now we need to put the year in front of us and reap the benefits of what we have achieved.

"We have used a lot of players throughout the year but in the last few games we have moulded a team that is confident with each other.

"There hasn't been as much commitment from the team as I have seen in the last few weeks and I am pleased that they know how crucial this time of the year is."

The squad is: Fergus McIntosh, Paul Young, Lachlan Bassett, Joe de Dassel, Tom Woods, Tala Vea, Dave Kearsey, Ben Lee, Luke Thom, Liam Bonner, Simon Newton, Chad Makim, Dan Sargent, Brett Randell, Russell Brien, Mick Curtis, Nigel Henley, Mat Flanagan, Will Latham, Steve Calman, James de Dassel and

Andy Joaquim.