Gungahlin United players silently stared at each other in disbelief after securing their place in their maiden Premier League decider. Simply, they couldn't have done it harder.

The Gunners clawed their way back to the top after a hefty Capital Football fine left them well below ground zero.

Gungahlin United were docked six points by the governing body after the club failed to meet payment arrangements for a historic debt.

Coach Marcial Munoz was ready to let players go when he walked into a team meeting to explain the club's dire situation in April - but no one left.

That's when he knew his players were going to "pull up a hell of a fight" to rectify the season.

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The first step was to avoid relegation. The second was to make the top-four. And the third was to allow themselves to believe they could win it all.

All they have to do now is beat an under-strength Tigers FC outfit at Deakin Stadium on Saturday.

"The season could have ended right there and then, but they came together and embraced the challenge," Munoz said.

"They won't give up - no matter the result or scoreline. That's what has driven them the whole way to [the decider].

"It couldn't have been harder but we couldn't have done it on better terms. The hurdles that were put in front of us this year, were very difficult to overcome. Arriving in the grand final is just the cherry on top."

Midfielder Antoni Timotheou has been eyeing the championship crown since making his Premier League debut with Gungahlin.

Timotheou said the minus-six deficit has made the side hungrier to win the grand final and "put talk into action."

"It was always going to be a long-term project with Marcial, he was building towards something special like this," Timotheou said.

"We've recruited players who have plenty of finals experience and it's really special us who have been at the club for three-to-four years. The minus six has almost made us hungrier to do our best and repay the club who put their trust in us."

Gungahlin will be licking their lips with an under-strength Tigers side, who will be without suspended players Darren Bailey and Mark Shields.

Cooma tried to appeal a one match ban for their captain after he copped two yellow cards during their major semi-final triumph over Canberra Olympic.

Gungahlin have beaten Cooma twice this year and will take the field with a full-strength squad but Munoz believes they'll be just as dangerous without their star striker.

"They're going to make things extremely hard for us, we're certainly not going into this final with the upper hand," Munoz said.

"We need to be mentally prepared to essentially go into battle against a team who appeal a lot to their physical strengths. We need to make sure we focus on that and understand how to break them down."

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Men's grand final: Tigers FC v Gungahlin United at Deakin Stadium, Saturday 6pm