The 23-year-old, who won two championships at former club Melbourne Victory, will be key to unlocking the Jets attack in the two-legged showdown with A-League Women's premiers City starting in Maitland on Sunday.

In 15 previous exchanges, the Jets have drawn once and lost on every other occasion, including two defeats this campaign.

But they are arguably the form team of the finals series and face City after a club-record four consecutive wins.

"Something I've learned from finals footy is that it's so different," Barbieri said on Monday as Jets players took a sold-out girls only clinic in New Lambton.

"It's about who wants it more. Who's going to show up on the day and who's in form at this point.

"I understand that we probably haven't performed our best against City. I think that's a positive because they don't know what's coming.

"We're not looking at the can't or the why, we're looking at the let's go. It's exciting and we want Newcastle to get around us, which they already have, and we're going to keep going with it."

Newcastle squeaked into the top six by goal difference to book only their third finals appearance in 16 seasons as City finished on top.

While City watched on with a weekend off, the Jets overpowered third-placed Western United with a heart-stopping 4-2 win sealed in extra time of an epic elimination final on Saturday night.

"Our legs were still pumping and we got to 120 minutes and I reckon we could have kept going," Barbieri said.

"It's just the mentality of the Newcastle Jets. We've had the philosophy and the values and the principles from the get-go, that we want to get into finals and when we get into finals we're going to be unstoppable.

"We're just feeling it now and we're starting to feel more momentum and confidence as we're coming into City as well, so it's exciting."

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Barbieri was at the heart of the win over United, delivering a pinpoint long ball 11 minutes into extra time for sharpshooter Melina Ayres to bury into United's net with one touch.

The technically gifted attacking midfielder, who was a last-minute signing by the Jets on the eve of season kick-off, played with Ayres at Victory.

"The great thing about Melina and I is we've had chemistry from the get-go," Barbieri said.

"We've played together at previous clubs as well, so when she came on, I knew all I had to do was get her the ball. With her and I, I don't really have to look. I just place the ball.

"As soon as it landed in front of her, I thought, it's going in. And she's always in form when it comes to finals. As soon as she came on, she said: 'Get me the ball', and I said, 'No worries'. It was a fantastic feeling."

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The win was the Jets first ever in finals and secured a home-and-away play-off with City, who have elected to host the second leg in Melbourne on April 28.

The first leg will be staged at Maitland Sportsground on Sunday, kicking off at 3pm.

Ticket sales were tracking well with about 3700 sold by Tuesday afternoon and Barbieri felt a boisterous home crowd at the intimate venue would give Newcastle an edge.

"Finals is such a different level. We can be playing any team, at the end of the day it's about who shows up," Barbieri said.

"We're looking forward to having the crowd around us. That generates so much power in how we want to play and the results as well. We literally thrive off that when we're playing, so it's going to be fantastic having a home semi at the start.

"Newcastle haven't been in a final for a while, so as much as it's about getting results it's also about enjoying the moment and enjoying being able to give back to the fans that have been there from the get-go for us and also the players that have been here from the start."