The Mackay City Hawks, Mackay Magpies and Whitsunday Sea Eagles will all enjoy a Round 17 bye, while the top of the table Eastern Swans take on cross town rivals the North Mackay Saints and the Bakers Creek Tigers travel to take on the Moranbah Bulldogs.
Moranbah are playing in a must win match as they fight to keep season 2015 alive against the Tigers.
However, the first versus third match takes honours as match of the round and rightly so. North Mackay can't be taken lightly by the Eastern Swans with the Saints finding their mojo last week against the Hawks and pushing the 2014 Grand-Finalists.
In the end, the Hawks recorded the victory and won by 5-goals.
Though, the Saints are on the march and the Swans need to respect their fellow finals opponents. North Mackay have secured another finals appearance and are aiming for a home-final but have the Magpies nipping at their heals.
Depending on results if the Saints go down, their is a slight chance they could find themselves outside of the Top 4 at the conclusion of Round 17.
The Mackay Magpies have the bye and will collect four points, while the Bulldogs have Bakers Creek and if previous results are anything to go by, the Bulldogs are in fine form. The Finals race may come down to percentage and that is what North Mackay have on their side.
North Mackay finished their round 16 match up with the Hawks the better side, kicking 6goals to 5 in the final two quarters.
As all season the Hawks have been missing fire power up forward and Brendan Riddle proved he is the key cog if the Saints are to become serious flag contenders. Riddle and David Edwards combined for 9-majors between them, kicking five and four respectively.
Facing the Swans will be a completely different task however, with the Eastern Swans preferring to take the game on and back their exceptional foot skills.
The likes of Terry Bailey, Dean Backwell, Rocklyn Miller, Matthew Oakford, Andrew Leithhead, Nicholas Kempe, Thomas Bugeja, the list goes on and the Saints must respect their opponents.
Shutting down the Swans is easier said then done, with the men in red and white having numerous styles of play and can easily transition between plan A, plan B and even plan C.
Key cog for the Swans Mitchell Cook will be a key throughout September and will play his last game before finals, with new career opportunities down south. If Cook can get over the fly in, fly out fatigue he is a play who rebounds numerous attacking raids of the opposition.
Definitely a match worth watching at Zeolla Park from 2:45pm on Saturday 8th August.
North Mackay Vs. Eastern Swans
First bounce: 2:45pm
Zeolla Park, Beaconsfield
Saturday 8th August, 2015
Meanwhile out at Stevenson Sports Park the Moranbah Bulldogs are out to keep their finals hopes alive but before they can even think about finals, the reigning premiers need to get over their first obstacle which is the Bakers Creek Tigers.
On previous results and on paper the Bulldogs should record a comfortable 10-goal plus win at home.
However, the Tigers have regained a number of key players and recruited a few young-stars and currently going through a massive development stage that will set the yellow and black for the long term. Coming off the bye, the Tigers will be fresh and if they can hold the Bulldogs up, they may just shape the finals series.
Moranbah Bulldogs Vs. Bakers Creek Tigers
First bounce: 2:45pm
Stevenson Sports Park, Moranbah
Saturday 8th August
Last Modified on 10/08/2015 08:55