Culina says when the odds are stacked against his side, that's when they perform at their best. And the odds are certainly stacked against them this weekend in New Zealand.

Phoenix are unbeaten in 18 games at the Cake Tin. And urged on by a raucous 35,000 sell-out crowd makes the Jets task even more herculean.  

But the elimination final win away to highly fancied Gold Coast over a week ago has reinforced coach Culina's view that his side enjoy being in this underdog position.

"Newcastle tends to perform better when the chips are against them," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

" I remember round 16 at the SFS, I said [to the players], 'you've never won a game in Sydney [against Sydney] in the five years and you're playing against the top team. We smashed them.

"And that actually changed our season from that point."

It's that determination that the Jets drew upon on the Gold Coast to edge past United over a week ago in the elimination final.

The Jets produced a sensational 6-5 penalty shootout win after both sides were locked 0-0 after 120 minutes of football. It's this character Culina sees as key.

And it's been an extraordinary rise for the Jets under Culina. Off the back of last season's wooden spoon, they've battled on with a small squad to be two games from a grand final.

Injuries at crucial times to big players like Michael Bridges, Sean Rooney and keeper Neil Young  have robbed the Jets of their best XI. Promising teenager Ben Kantarovski has also missed games recently and exciting striker Marko Jesic and Shaun Ontong are on the long-term casualty list.

"The biggest problem for us is that we've had a thin squad," added Culina. "We lost a marquee player [Fabio Vignaroli] halfway through the year. And don't forget we were vying for a top two spot until the latter stages of the season.

"We lost too many key players and did not replace them. And while it did not matter for the first week or two, it caught up eventually.

"You can put a teenager in one week and he can do a job one week. But for three or four weeks or more, it does take its toll."

Two such players are young striker Mrjan Pavlovic and midfielder Scott Balderson. The pair from the Jets youth side have been given a shot by Culina as his injury hit squad battled on.  

If the youngsters get on the park in Wellington this weekend, both are set to be even more starry-eyed after debuting for the senior side in recent weeks.

"Every young player wants to make their A-League debut. It's the next step up from the Youth League and from here you just want to keep going higher and higher," the Croatian-born Pavlovic told au.fourfourtwo.com.

"Obviously the next goal for me is to get an A-League contract here at Newcastle."

Balderson - who had a spell in the Uk with Stevenage Borough - added: "In the Youth League, you get that bit more time on the ball.

"But I think it's more a mental thing as well because it's a bigger game, bigger crowd but you've just got to get used to it in time with every chance you get."

As Culina finalises his preparation for the biggest game of the season, he's not letting financial constraints distract him. 

"Con [Constantine] has had a lot of criticism about the running of the club, but he's been nothing but great for me. Regional clubs always find it harder to attract the personnel compared to the major city clubs," said Culina.

"We've just got to accept it and get on with it. What do we need to take the next step. We weren't far off this year, but we've got to continue to improve next season."

And he added a note of optimism before leaving on Thursday for Wellington: "People are entitled to write us off, but don't give up on us."