Following a week off for the All Star weekend, it's a return to normality for the Gippsland League as round seven kicks off.
Drouin and Warragul both make the journey away on Saturday, with very different narratives surrounding their matches.
Maffra vs Drouin
Drouin continue their search for premiership points this weekend as they travel away to face Maffra.
The Hawks have been desperately unlucky not to capture a win to this point, having gone down by single digit margins in four of their six games.
Incredibly, if the ladder was sorted purely by percentage, the Hawks would jump all the way from 10th to fifth.
The week off came at a good time for them, given they were thoroughly outplayed at home by Sale in their last match.
The bye also allowed some of their missing troops to return, as ruckman Aaron Pawel and the versatile Alex McMillan come back into the team.
Pawel especially will ease a lot of pressure on Drouin's structure, allowing Ryan Taylor to spend more time in the backline.
Charlie Bethune makes way, as does the injured Will Papley. The onus will be on the Drouin midfielders to replace the energy Papley generates.
For Maffra, this will be a golden opportunity to win their second game in a row after going through the first four rounds winless.
The Eagles, who like the Hawks are in the early stages of their own rebuild, found enough guile from their veterans and effort from their youth to outdo Warragul in round six.
Playing at home in front of their fans, at a ground they haven't lost to Drouin at since 2009, they'll have plenty of reason to be confident.
They'll still be wary, however, especially given they only barely managed to hold off the Hawks in this same fixture last season.
Their other reason for concern would be that for Drouin, this might be their best opportunity to get off the mark for some time.
After this game the Hawks face a gauntlet of difficult match-ups where they play the top three teams all one after the other.
They've been valiant but they need a reward for that effort soon to keep spirits high.
Wonthaggi vs Warragul
Warragul's showed the full toll of their injury crisis in round six and as such they've turned to the youth for their match against Wonthaggi.
The Gulls have been cruelled like few other sides, as regular senior stars like Jed Lamb and Mitch Smart will be watching the season from the sidelines.
It all became a bit too much for them against Maffra, where their endeavour was there but they simply lacked the polish and class going forward to hurt the Eagles.
The pressure will be on this week as they head down the highway to face off against a bona fide top five side.
As such they've made the call to blood the youth as talented young prospects Riley Senini and Lucas Carter will both make their senior debuts against the Power.
Senini has been a standout for the Gulls under 16s side for the past two seasons, with his forays into the under 18s side also showing plenty of promise.
Similarly, Carter has been a strong performer for the under 18s this year, after featuring heavily in the Gulls' under 16s team's run to the grand final last year.
Kai MacLean makes his return, as does Will Hatfield, Lachlan Collihole and Matthew O'Halloran.
Patrick Mulqueen, James Davidson, Lucas Monacella, Harry Brown, Chris Raso and Liam Serong all make way.
The key for the Gulls this week will be taking their opportunities when they present themselves.
Warragul have lacked a strong tall target to kick to for much of the year, an issue that has only compounded with Lamb's ACL injury.
They generated enough chances to knock off Maffra in round six, but consistently missed targets inside 50, leading to frustration.
On the other side of things, Wonthaggi will be looking at this game as a chance for another solid win in their hunt for a higher position.
The Power are six points clear in fourth and are on a three-game winning streak.
Given they play fellow contender Traralgon next week, this will be a match they'll want to tick off.
Other games
Bairnsdale will try to arrest their slide when they host Traralgon.
The Redlegs began the season with plenty of excitement, but it's died down in recent weeks thanks to consecutive losses by 50, 115 and 74 points respectively.
Traralgon's year is now building nicely after knocking off the previously undefeated Moe last week.
The Maroons are on the hunt for higher position and all things point to this being another win for them.
The Sale of old appeared to make a comeback last time they played and now they try to keep the momentum going against Morwell.
The Magpies looked like the side that made the grand final as they dismantled Drouin in round six, and will this week welcome back spearhead Brad Dessent.
Morwell have their eyes on fifth spot and will look back fondly on the last time they met Sale, where they pulled off one of the season's biggest upsets to steal a finals position last year.
Expect to learn more about where these sides sit in this one.
Finally it's a first vs second blockbuster when Leongatha faces off with Moe.
The Parrots' 34-game win streak will be put to the test against the Lions, who will be out to atone after tasting defeat for the first time this year.
The Lions will be up against it as they lose Nick Prowse and Matt Barrand, but fans should keep an eye on this one as a potential grand final preview.