by Nicholas Duck
There are some big matches for the top five this week in the Gippsland League, while Warragul and Drouin will be up against it if they want to take the win.
Warragul vs Sale
Warragul will be looking to bounce back in a big way when they host Sale this weekend.
The injury-riddled Gulls were put to the sword last week against Wonthaggi, the full toll of the players unavailable to them plain to see.
The 138-point defeat gave Warragul fans few reasons to smile, though the senior debuts of youngsters Riley Senini and Lucas Carter had plenty of upside.
Given they'll be unable to put out a genuine best-22 side for the rest of the year though, the Gulls will have to make do with what they've got, and that begins this week against the resurgent Sale.
The Magpies have fought their way back from the brink, going from one and four and in serious danger of their season being over before it had begun to now being two points inside the top five.
They managed an escape act last week against Morwell, claiming a hard-fought four point win, but regardless have now won their past three matches.
Brayden Notman is the one inclusion for the Gulls, coming in for Tim Davine.
Helping the home side's case is the absence of Sale superstar Shannen Lange, who has consistently been a top-three player in the league for some time now.
It will be a tough ask of the inexperienced Gulls, but in front of their home crowd they'll be keen to atone for last week's thrashing.
Drouin vs Moe
The winless Hawks continue their search for a breakthrough against one of the league's heavy hitters.
After some desperately unlucky losses earlier this season by under 10 points, it's been a disappointing past two matches for Drouin.
They were found wanting against Sale, being outplayed from the first siren, before last week's disheartening defeat to Maffra.
The Hawks would have given themselves a red hot chance there, only to be brought undone by their inability to retain the ball.
Things only get harder for them from here, where they face the league's top three sides all one after the other.
Their first of these match-ups is against Moe, who would be about as full of confidence as any footy team in Australia right about now after being the first team to defeat Leongatha in over two years last week.
The Lions were ferocious around the ball, while the debut of former-Western Bulldogs player Billy Gowers paid dividends in the forward line.
Moe have announced themselves as a genuine flag contender and will be looking at this match as another chance to press their case for top spot.
They'll be helped by the fact that Hawks ruckman Aaron Pawel is out of the side, meaning it will likely be up to Ryan Taylor to shoulder the ruck again.
It's likely this will be the most challenging period of Drouin's season, especially given that they couldn't get a win to help boost their spirits.
Let's see how they handle it.
Other games
Morwell face off with Bairnsdale in a battle to keep touch with the top five.
The Tigers missed out on a real chance against Sale last week and will need to bank some wins quickly if they hope to repeat last year's run to finals.
Bairnsdale's well has gone dry, having lost their last four to tumble out of a finals position.
For the loser it could be lights out.
It's third vs fourth as Traralgon hosts Wonthaggi.
Both sides have been extremely solid thus far and always seem to play out a close encounter, their two games last season being a four-point Maroons win and a draw.
Expect another thriller.
Finally, Leongatha will look to bounce back against Maffra.
These two have had a famous rivalry in years gone by, but are at very different stages as things stand.
Maffra have looked a much-improved side in their last two games, and are suddenly a factor in top five calculations, but the Parrots will enter as strong favourites after having their 34-game winning streak ended.