As the North Gippsland football season draws to an end five of the leagues clubs will bid farewell to their 2015 aspirations.

Like the seasons prior, the final round of the home and away season holds great significance with the stage set for an enthralling end to an action packed 18 rounds of competition. Saturday’s concluding round will be a pseudo-elimination final for four sides who will fight it out for the final remaining two places in the top five.

Four points separates third placed TTU from the log jam below with Heyfield leading the pack by a mere 37.11 percent from last year’s premiers Churchill who are relegated outside the five. Ironically TTU and Heyfield will meet come Saturday, with Yarram to meet one of the competitions top of the table sides in the final round which will decide who claims the final positions in the elimination bout.

In their second season new kids on the block Yarram will be hungry to regain what has been a one handed grip on a top five finish, with the Demons sitting in the five for a fair portion of the season. However, the Demons inconsistencies of the second half of the fixture has seen their grasp loosen.

YARRAM and SALE CITY will headline one of two matches that will be fiercely contested with more than just the four points on the line.

Demons coach Anthony Pavey is looking for more than just improvement from the side’s performance of round nine against the Dogs, he wants a win.

“We will be going about it hoping for a win of course,” Pavey said.

“We hope to have a few come back, David Clavarino and Clint Staley had a run in the reserves on the weekend, we will welcome back Trek Davis who has been in great form and are hoping that Ryan Coulthard will also be in contention.”

Meeting the Dogs has been a tough assignment for any side this season with Pavey knowing that his chargers will need to address the lack of consistency that has troubled the side in key contests.

“The Churchill game we threw away, we need to bring consistency to our game for four quarters instead of two and a half, or in the instance of the Churchill game three and a half quarters.

“We need to stick to our game plan, from now on in all the games are finals for us,” Pavey said.

Also high on Pavey’s agenda will be the sides inaccuracy in front of goal which the coach noted came close to being costly last weekend.

“We nearly kicked ourselves out of the contest last Saturday with our inaccuracy, we duffed our kicks a bit, our shots on goal were terrible,” Pavey said.

While sharp shooter Corbin Sutherland went onto register five majors he missed two shots on goal early in the piece which Pavey noted is not common for one of his key forwards.

Yarram will need to draw on their mental toughness to out squeeze the Dogs who will contest the Qualifying Final in a weeks’ time.

“We will need to stop their run at all costs, in turn we will look to our key forwards to have a major impact and will keep in close check their danger man David Piasente and look to restrict Hayden Burgiel’s run off the half back line,” Pavey said.

GLENGARRY will play host to a side which is fighting for the opportunity to defend their title in CHURHILL whose season is teetering on the brink of missing finals.

The Cougars will be hungry to bounce back from a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Rosedale as they aim to reward themselves with a finals berth.

Sitting outside the top five due to a minor percentage to that of Heyfield and Yarram the contest against the lesser ranked Magpies will prove advantageous to the Cougars percentage. Churchill’s percentage will need a considerable boost and could prove the difference if the reigning premiers are to climb back into the five come the final siren on Saturday and defend their title.

With that in mind there will be little let up for the Magpies defence who felt the full effects of Heyfield’s forwards flexing their muscle in a goal scoring frenzy a week ago. The Cougars forward line provides an even spread of contributors with Glengarry’s back six resolve to again be tested.

TTU Bombers will need to draw on a gritty performance when they do battle against HEYFIELD who in turn will need to pull off the Houdini escape required to make finals.

But it’s just not Heyfield’s finals hopes and aspirations that hinge on the result. Sitting one rung above the Kangaroo’s on the premiership ladder in third position, one game clear, a loss to the Bombers would see the sides grasp on the double chance diminish.

The Bombers will be confident going in to the match with the side claiming bragging rights when they produced an upset in their earlier encounter downing the Kangaroos on their home turf by 27 points. The win in turn making a statement of intent as the Bombers announced that they would pose a threat at the tail end of the season.

On that day it was the inform Brian Graham who was the man at the coal face amassing possessions and having an impact in front of goal. With Graham coming into the contest on the back of a 10 goal best on ground performance, the Kangaroos will need to employ a hard tag to keep the playmaker under wraps.

With plenty at stake the contest will be an enthralling one with little margin to separate the sides at the final siren.

All but shoring up the title of minor premiers and a weeks respite come the first week of finals, ROSEDALE will host seventh placed COWWARR.

Claiming a comfortable 123 point win over Cowwarr in their earlier encounter, the Saints will need to put in a strong sustained four quarter effort it they are to atone the rampant Blues and cause an upset against the competitions number one ranked side.

The Saints have shown that they can match it with the competitions front runners, but it will be their backline that will be put under the microscope against the Blues. The back six will need the support of the side’s engine room if they are to hold the likes of Jack Tatterson, Dale Fleming, Luke Stuckey and Brad Caldwell who lit up the forward 50 arc with their dominance in round nine against the Saints.

With an iron tight defence and strong engine room, the Blues appear to have the match of the Saints around the ground and should maintain their hold at the top the premiership ladder standings with victory.

Despite the sides rankings, the stage is set for an entertaining contest when GORMANDALE plays host to foes from over the hill in WOODSIDE.

Sitting at the tail end of the premiership ladder standings, this week’s opponents have recorded four wins to date with the sides confident that they can take another step forward in their improvement with victory on Saturday.

Both teams come into the contest having been inflicted hefty defeats by the competitions second and third ranked sides, Gormandale looking to atone for their 94 point thumping by Sale City, while for the Wildcats they too will need to refocus on the task at hand as they aim to rebound from the disappointment of a 22 goal thrashing by TTU.

There is little love lost between the sides with the win loss ledger in past seasons relatively even. Despite taking the points in an arm wrestle of a contest in the opening half of the fixture, the Tigers have shown dramatic improvement over the past month and might just have the Wildcats measure to turn the tables on their earlier loss.

By Lauren Carey