Dominic Perrottet joked on Thursday that it would say something if he needed Gladys Berejiklian campaigning in his own seat.
But the NSW premier felt it necessary to trek into her old stomping ground on Friday to help her successor, Tim James, cling on to Willoughby.
The seat centred around high-rise Chatswood was a certainty under Ms Berejiklian, only to almost fall into the hands of an independent challenger last February after the popular MP resigned.
Mr Perrottet shook hands with dozens of locals and even a few Japanese tourists as he and Mr James weaved through market stalls, shopfronts and a scrum of journalists and curious voters.
Jess Sanger introduced her nine-month-old, Alham, to the premier but said meeting him probably wouldn't sway her vote.
"It does show he cares for the local people," she told AAP.
"I will vote for whoever does good for the area. My priority is childcare."
Kevin Hong, father of a two-year-old girl and recently moved to Willoughby, said early education was "definitely the number one priority" ahead of the state of community facilities.
"Some of the facilities here are great but others are lacking," he said.
Neither voter had made up their minds about the March 25 election, like most others AAP spoke to on Friday.
Any concern the Liberals could lose the seat was dismissed by Mr Perrottet who pointed to the government's track record over the past 12 years.
But Mr James was more circumspect, in the midst of a second battle with independent Larissa Penn after scrapping through the 2022 by-election on a 3.3 per cent margin.
"We're working extremely hard for every single vote," he said.
In the last federal election, voters chose independent Kylea Tink over Liberal incumbent Trent Zimmerman, with key booths in Chatswood turning teal
But it's far from a smooth ride for Ms Penn, who needs to convince Labor faithful to preference her under NSW's optional system.
Labor didn't run at the 2022 by-election but will this time, albeit asking voters on most party how-to-vote cards to rank Ms Penn above her Liberal opponent.
Mr Perrottet's dip into Willoughby came after he took up tools in Meadowbank TAFE to warn of apprentices losing work under a Labor government.
The cancellation of two of four Sydney Metro lines would leave up to 4000 apprentices "high and dry" and break the pipeline of work across the city, the government said on Friday.
"We know that is all at risk under Labor because they don't have an economic plan," he said.
Labor says it won't proceed with the two lines - Westmead to Western Sydney Airport and Bankstown to Glenfield - until it has clarity on the cost blowouts that have occurred during the construction of current lines.
Sydney Metro West, connecting Parramatta to the CBD, is forecast to cost $12 billion over four years but won't be complete until 2030.
Meanwhile, four adults were arrested for trespassing after climate activists as young as 15 occupied the premier's electorate office in Epping over the continual approval of coal and gas projects.
