GORMANDALE coach Luke Henderson will be under no illusion as to the enormity of the challenge the Kangaroos pose, but the man at the helm of the Tigers will have extra cavalry in his line-up in the way of former Fremantle and Collingwood 155 gamer Brodie Holland who will pull on the Tiger guernsey.
The Tigers have secured the services of Holland for a one off appearance which will coincide with the clubs Hall of Fame celebrations. Henderson hopes that the inclusion of Holland will enhance the on field leadership and inspire his side to cause yet another upset in front of a large home crowd.
"It's really exciting to be able to announce that Brodie will be playing for us, he played 155 games at the elite level for Fremantle and Collingwood kicking 141 goals," said Henderson.
"The added dimension of his inclusion and leadership skills will bring a lot to the table, and something that the guys can draw from in what will be a big clash.
"He is a midfield forward player, so he will be thrown into the centre with the likes of our captain Luke Heggarty, Daniel Domaille, Brendan Solomon, Jack Wyhoon and Joe Colaciello and we hope like he did last week playing for Poowong that he will again be among the disposals, he picked up 40 touches and kicked two goals."
Reversing an 87 point round one loss to TTU into a four goal loss second time around, Henderson said that his side will take confidence from their continued improvement.
"We can mention all the clichés, but it is all about the little things our pressure last week was great, the scoreboard has shown that we are there about but there are passages of play each week that opens up the game and allows the other side in.
"Having an inclusion like Brodie with his skill and knowledge of the game will give us an opportunity to continue to improve and allow us to push Heyfield as we did in round two," said Henderson.
HEYFIELD will be out to keep its finals pulse beating with a gutsy win required against the Tigers. Boasting a 6 - 4 record the Kangaroos must win to maintain their hold on a top five finish after what has been a lean fortnight.
The great escape can be likened to CHURCHILL with the Cougars claiming two narrow wins by a one point margin, last week's result allowing the Cougars to move back into the top five.
With a tough month on the fixture nearing with matches on the road against Sale City and TTU the Cougars coaching panel will be looking for a solid four quarter effort in the contest against COWWARR.
Returning to the winners list with a hard fought scrappy contest, the Saints will be confident that they can keep within arms reach of the Cougars with the final margin less than four points in their earlier meeting.
On that occasion Brad McBride was among the goals, with Pat Tainsh named best on ground. For the Cougars Tim Darby booted a match high six majors with ruckman Andrew Brown dominating the hit out count.
In their current form it is hard not to look past the Cougars to extend their winning streak, but it will be far from one way traffic.
For the second time in a fortnight YARRAM will highlight the match of the round when third meets fourth placed TTU.
The Demons suffered their first defeat of the season against the high flying Bombers, with Yarram coach Anthony Pavey noting the sides round two loss still bothers him with his side smarting from the result.
Brushing the result of round two aside the Demons season has gained in momentum from that day in April, with Pavey aware that his side will be a different proposition second time around having improved since that day.
Since round two, the Demons have dropped the points on two further occasions by one point against Churchill and in round nine by less than three goals to the now ladder leaders Sale City.
For the Bombers their season has hummed along under new coach Jay Neagle, with the side's biggest scalp recorded a fortnight ago when they accounted for Heyfield at the Heyfield Recreation Reserve a feat remarkably that hasn't been achieved in 25 years.
With both sides out to claim a finals berth, Yarram for the first time since entering the league two seasons ago and TTU looking for a return following a year's sabbatical, the stage is set for an epic contest.
Little separated the Demons and Bomber in their earlier meeting, in fact scores were locked at 7.7(49) at half time. The telling point came in the final term when the Bombers kept their legs and made the most of their chances in front of goals.
So where will the small victories be gained this week, which will give one side the winning edge?
TTU's small forwards have provided many of the competitions backlines with a headache or two, in fact three of the competitions top three goal kickers are Bomber players. Stephen Hawkins is the league's leading goal scorer with 32 for the season, two goals in front of Yarram's Corbin Sutherland, while teammates Brian Graham (26) and Chase Saunders (25) round out the top five.
The jostle in the midfield is shaping to be an enticing one, many have described Grahams form to be far superior to his back to back league best and fairest wins of season 2012 and 2013. Graham's individual performances have been influential in many of the Bombers triumphs. With the Demons benefiting from the return of Louis Rodaughan, Jari McDonald should be available with Gippsland Power having the week off and with Matt Clavarino and Grif Underwood in solid form the battle that will play out against the Bombers midfield may determine which side comes out on top.
With solid book ends, the Bombers defence staunchly let by Guy Sinclair will be equally matched at the opposite end of the ground by Chris Pettitt's back six who will look to take a strangle hold over the Bombers high flying small forwards.
Sitting equal on the premiership ladder standings on 28 points, and with a tough contest in Rosedale awaiting TTU in the split round the Bombers will need to take their A game on the road to account for the Demons.
Second placed ROSEDALE found themselves again falling short against premiership contenders Sale City in the top of the table contest.
Aiming to bounce back the Blues will host WOODSIDE with coach Daniel Risol fully aware that his side can ill afford to allow Rosedale to blow out to a commanding lead in the opening term; otherwise they will be relegated to playing catch up footy against one of the competitions powerhouse sides.
Meeting the Blues on the rebound is going to be a tough assignment for the young Wildcats who will need to be at their best to topple their more fancied and experienced opponent.
While GLENGARRY remain winless, Saturday's result was the first time this season the Magpies have kept their losing margin to less than 20 points.
The Magpies producing their best quarter of the season in the final term when they outscored the Saints by 24 points, kicking 4.3 to 0.3.
They will need to produce more of that same determined effort when they meet ladder leaders SALE CITY who well and truly had their measure in the opening half of the fixture taking the chocolates by a barnstorming 27 goals.
By Lauren Carey