NSW's canny forwards know they can get a big lift in the battle to win enough ball to beat the Crusaders in the Super 14 final on Saturday night.

The Waratahs pack has shown this season they have the brawn and brains to win up front.

But if there is one lingering frustration from their 28-13 semi-final win over the Sharks in Sydney last Saturday night, it is that they were denied opportunities to give their attack a run from their own throws in the lineout.

The Waratahs lineout is one of the most formidable in Super 14. That was clear against the Sharks when they won five lineouts on the Durban side's throw, with second-rower Dan Vickerman a master at reading their calls.

But the Waratahs believe they have much more to offer in attack on their throws, too.

"We have been shutting down a lot of lineouts," forwards coach Steve Tuynman said yesterday at the Waratahs' final training session at Victoria Barracks, Paddington, where a 24-man squad was named to fly Christchurch this morning.

"We got some clean steals [against the Sharks]. It is a bit disappointing that we are not getting too many throws on our own ball.

"We put a lot of work into the opposition's lineouts. There is a bit of intelligence that goes in there. We just try to work out if we can get on top of them."

Tuynman said the forwards realised they would have to fight in myriad ways to get the possession needed to win on Saturday night and that trying to manipulate the game so the Crusaders provided them with lineouts on their own throw was one ploy.

Against the Crusaders in round six, the Waratahs forwards were well in the game, despite NSW's 34-7 defeat following a four-try rout in the last 30 minutes of play.

The Waratahs pack dominated the first half, although NSW were down 6-0 at the break. And in the 50th minute No.8 Wycliff Palu scored a converted try that put the visitors 7-6 in front.

"We have to look at ways where we can get ball - that is one way," Tuynman said of the lineouts on their throw.

"We have sat down, had a look at the game and what ways we can look at getting on top and dominate. Obviously we want to get as much ball as possible.

"[But] possession is going to be hard to get and we have to work on ways of getting it - through the lineout, through the scrum, through the breakdown …"

The motivation for the forwards is the knowledge that should they provide enough ball, the back line should reap the rewards by converting that possession into match-winning points.

"This year, once we have ball in hand we can actually do things with it," Tuynman said.

Waratahs captain and openside breakaway Phil Waugh, whose clash with All Black No.7 Richie McCaw will be a major highlight in the final, agreed.

"Every big game is won up front," Waugh said. " It is important for our forwards to dominate. If we don't dominate we can't expect the backs to find space out wide."

Waratahs fullback Sam Norton-Knight also nominated his Crusaders counterpart Leon MacDonald as a danger man.

"The back three in our squad look at a lot of his footage because he does very little wrong," Norton-Knight said.

"Everything he does has a positive impact on the team and he does the hard work and takes those high balls and gets good field position for them."

As important as the outcome of the Waugh-McCaw battle might be, Tuynman said the Waratahs would not be preparing their game around the All Blacks superstar - nor around any other individual - because it might expose a gap elsewhere. "He is one of the best, but [NSW] have one of the best with Phil Waugh," Tuynman said.

"If we go out and target some of these guys we are doing ourselves an injustice. They have 15 guys just as good as Richie McCaw - or up to that standard.

"We just have to stick to our plan. That is what we have done. When we stick to the plan we go well and get results. Focusing on the individual is going to put us off our game."