"We need to meet them up front in the forwards and play quite an expansive game to get the ball away from them," Stephens said.
An expansive brand of rugby certainly paid off last weekend as Waikite ran riot in a 65-0 win over Rotoiti.
"Throughout the season we've had a bit of trial and error with our players and their positions.
"Now we finally have our team down pat.
"Because we have quite a few numbers in our team and a lot of new players the stability of our team and security of positions haven't been solid, that's been a bit unsettling."
She said playing for the Cup was "very exciting".
"This is where we wanted to be placed, we don't go on previous results now, it's a clean slate.
"It's quite refreshing for us and teams don't know what our number one line-up is because we've chopped and changed so much.
"I believe we're peaking at the right time."
Stephens said it was "very important" to finish in the top two of the round robin and secure a home semifinal.
Meanwhile, Rotoiti's first game in the Trophy division is against Apanui at home, and Whakarewarewa have a bye.
Rotoiti coach Victoria Grant said her side always enjoyed playing Apanui.
"They're a hearty team, they never give up and they go hard from the start - we're looking forward to the game.
"We're pretty physical too so we need to front up and have our mind on the game.
"That's a big work-on for us this season, being mentally in the game from the start," Grant said.
The need to be mentally switched on was highlighted as Rotoiti let Waikite get away to a fast start last weekend and ended up losing 65-0.
"The talk [this week] has mainly been about our mental state going into that game."
She said Rotoiti were excited about beginning the Trophy phase of the competition.
"Top four is always the focus at the start of the season but it hasn't turned out that way for us, so we just need to put that behind us and move forward.
"We're focusing on each game and we can still take some huge positives from the Trophy round.
"This is the first time they've had a Trophy round in the Bay comp - it's encouraging that we have enough teams to do that and it will be quite competitive games too."
Rotoiti and Whakarewarewa were originally to play each other this weekend but the teams requested the draw be amended.
The change was made so that on Saturday, July 15, Whakarewarewa's Premier 1, Premier 1 Development and Women's teams will all play their Rotoiti opposites at home.
