by Rob Popplestone
Two locals teams in contrasting form will meet in round seven of Mid Gippsland Football on Saturday.
Hill End v Thorpdale
This clash has all the elements of becoming quite an ugly result for the visiting Thorpdale side.
Hill End, on their home deck and in form, will welcome a bruised and battered Blues side coming off a massive 140-point loss.
One thing for certain, and something both coaches would be aware of, is that a week is a long time in football.
For Mike Santo, his Hill End side still have some work to do. Even in winning form, there are some obvious improvements that can and will be made to enable the Rovers opportunities they so desperately want later in the year.
For Ray Pickering, the question, the big question, is whether he can find a way to have his side believe they are capable of far better than what they dished up last week.
Last week Thorpdale were completely outplayed but this week scores will be even at the first bounce. Whatever happens after that is in the Blues hands.
Fish Creek v Boolarra
Tipped as a top five contender, Fish Creek are quickly running out of time to make their run towards the top half of the ladder.
Make no mistake, the Kangaroos are better than what we have seen to this stage of the season. But it is right about now that they just have to find a way to win.
Coach John Danckert hopes to get a few key players back against Boolarra, labelling the game as "season-defining".
The visiting Boolarra side are looking very comfortable, currently holding third position on the MGFNL ladder. But to secure an even firmer grip, they need to keep their winning momentum.
I have, on a weekly basis, highlighted the evenness of the competition in 2022, and part of that evenness is due to the improvement of sides like Boolarra. The Demons have already given their local community and healthy support group something to be proud of and something to get excited about.
That being said, they, like their opponents this week, need to do more and need to continually improve as we go deeper and deeper into the season.
As much as performances in finals can make a footballer's and a club's reputation, it's Saturday afternoon matches like this one that give opportunity to line up in finals in the first place.
MDU v Newborough
The Demons have managed to claim the four premiership points twice in the last fortnight, on both occasions by less than a kick.
As pleasing as those results have been, their real test comes this week as they prepare for a challenge about as tough as it currently gets when they welcome a very confident and rapidly improving Bulldogs side.
"We have faith we can turn it around for the massive challenge this week against the Bulldogs," MDU coach Peter Harris said.
MDU, currently eighth, are just the single win behind a fourth placed Newborough side, which in itself spells out the importance of the result for both teams.
"Another away game at MDU, who have not lost at home," Bulldogs coach Craig Skinner said. "So the heat needs to stay in the kitchen for another week."
Newborough are still putting the pieces of their player puzzle together after well documented, impressive off-season recruiting. The challenge has been, and still remains, to get those pieces to work together on a consistent basis, with a view that they peak when needed as the pressure around them increases.
Stony Creek v Foster
Stony Creek have been better than expected and, although beaten by Morwell East before their bye, you get the feeling that the best is yet to come for the Lions.
Some of their best will be needed as they prepare for a visiting Foster side.
"We had plenty to work on during our week off before we take on an in form Foster side," coach Jai Acardi said.
That's the thing, Foster are very much a quality side despite the fact they come into this clash off a loss and currently sit ninth on the table; three slots below Stony Creek.
With a win, the Tigers can quickly change their fortunes. A win that in the past could quite easily be expected this week, will not be as easy as it once was.
Foster have had their issues to contend with when putting their 18 first choice players on the park, but have always managed to battle on manfully despite the hurdles that have confronted them.
Foster coach Sam Davies says, "we ultimately need to be better for longer throughout games".
This year's competition demands that sides do in fact need to be better for longer. Slight lapses, small mistakes, missed opportunities all individually can alter the result of a game and ultimately a season.
Tarwin v Morwell East
Each week the bar has been lifted and the opposition more prepared, but to date no side has managed to manoeuvre around a very consistent and seemingly very well drilled Tarwin side.
The Sharks, under new coach Troy Hemming, have delivered in spades to their local community the type of football they may not have witnessed for quite a while.
"I'm very proud of our boys staying disciplined and grinding away, but Morwell East is going to be a big challenge as I think we play a similar brand of football," Hemming said.
They welcome a Morwell East side on the rebound after a frustrating, maybe even embarrassing, loss in front of a strong home crowd just seven days prior.
The Hawks are better than what they showed last week, and that's not to take away from the performance of Newborough. But being capable of better and not showing it when it really counts is an intangible problem coach Devon Soutar will be addressing in his normal no nonsense manner.
It should be remembered the last time Morwell East put in a performance as they did last week - in round one, they went on to win their next four in a row.
Toora v Yinnar
The battle of the Magpies takes on a twist that was not expected just one week ago. That twist being the honest and aggressive performance by the Toora team against MDU in their most recent clash.
Even in a loss, the Toora Magpies showed enough to suggest that a win is quickly getting closer, even if it might not be this week against a very powerful Yinnar team.
The visitors make the trip to Toora confident they may have found the formula to make this season something very special.
Yinnar were given some pretty close attention by Thorpdale last weekend, but the more attention they received, the better the home side responded. Their nine-goal third quarter performance was testimony to the fact this Yinnar side could well be the real deal as things start to click.
"Toora at Toora this week is another big game," Yinnar coach Daniel Taylor said. "They pushed MDU on the weekend gone, so we will have to be at our best again to get the result."
Toora might not be a finals consideration this year, but they can use games like this on their home ground to showcase what might be possible when effort and application is given for 100 per cent of the time. At the end of the day, that's all you can ask from any player, team or club.
Bye: Mirboo North