Morwell will be vying for its fourth straight win when it returns home to host Drouin.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Tigers, who sacked their coach after just two rounds, following consecutive losses to start the year.
Four weeks later and the reigning premier is coming off an emphatic one point victory over Maffra.
“If we win that put us four (wins) and two (losses) going into interleague, which will be big effort from where we were at the start of the year,” Morwell coach Joel Soutar said.
Morwell’s recent history against the Hawks will also give the home team plenty of confidence.
The Tigers have celebrated big victories in its past four encounters with Drouin.
However, the Tigers aren’t expecting Saturday’s clash against the competition’s big improver to be a walk in the park.
Prior to the Tigers’ four-game winning run, the Hawks had beaten Morwell on six consecutive occasions.
“Obviously we will have to shut down Ben Hughes. He is a pretty handy forward. They have some bigger bodies and they are pretty young as well,” Soutar said.
The duel in the ruck between Drouin coach Bob McCallum and Tiger Dan Musil will be among the contests to watch.
Drouin’s record also stands at three wins and two defeats after five rounds, having dropped matches to Traralgon and Maffra.
Fresh from four straight wins, Traralgon will be looking to make it five in a row on the road against Wonthaggi.
Traralgon coach Mark Collison said the game represented another great test for his side.
“We really respect Wonthaggi as a side and then we get the interleague bye and hopefully re-assess ahead of Maffra, so it’s going to be a big few weeks, but we are really looking forward to playing the better sides as that’s where we want to be,” Collison said.
The trip to Bass Coast is one that’s feared by many clubs, but Traralgon has had a good record there since the Power’s 2010 return to the competition.
It won all of its games at Wonthaggi from 2010-2013.
Pipped at the post by Morwell last weekend, Maffra will be looking to bounce back when it travels to Moe to take on the Lions, who are coached by one of its own, in Maffra premiership player Adrian Burgiel.
His side, too, is coming off a loss to Drouin.
The Eagles have won their past six matches against Moe, and nine of the past 11.
The Lions will have to shut down lethal Eagles forward duo Darren Sheen and Daniel Bedggood.
However, the new look Lions have their fair share of stars too, including Burgiel up forward and James Blaser who has dominated the midfield in recent weeks.
Disappointed by his side’s efforts in the last quarter against Traralgon last week, Bairnsdale coach Shaun Mooney said his side would have to find a way to bounce back at home against Sale.
The Redlegs were right in it at three-quarter-time against Traralgon, but were outplayed by the Maroons in the last, giving up eight goals to two.
“We will take some positives from it, but we need to make sure we play consistent role for four quarters next week,” Mooney said.
“In this competition you really have to play to your best every week, otherwise you are going to get found out and that’s what happened to us in the last quarter against Traralgon.”
Bairnsdale’s opponent on Saturday, Sale, will also be up and about following its three-point win over ladder leader Leongatha.
Mooney did not rule out changes to his line-up for the visit of the Magpies.
Coming off its first loss of the year, Leongatha will be looking to bounce back against bottom of the table Warragul.
Having won 11 of its past 13 encounters with the Gulls, the Parrots have had the better of their West Gippsland opponent in recent years.
Last Modified on 15/05/2015 18:08