Round 9 of the TAC Cup competition will see the top four sides battle it out against one another.
The second placed North Ballarat Rebels go head to head with ladder leaders and undefeated side the Gippsland Power at Eureka Stadium on Saturday.
The last two rounds have seen Gippsland tally mammoth wins by 103 and 59 points against the Northern Knights and Geelong Falcons respectively. The Power will not be at full strength, playing without Nick Graham and Ben Kearns who have Vic Country duties.
The North Ballarat Rebels have encountered similar success, disposing of Tasmania by 67 points in the Country Round and defeating the Murray Bushrangers by 30 points in Round 8. The Rebels have only recorded one loss for the season thus far, going down to the Dandenong Southern Stingray in April.
North Ballarat will be hit harder than their opponents this weekend with the scheduling of NAB AFL Under 18 Championships matches. The Rebels will be missing Tyler Blake, Tanner Smith, Tony Lockyer, Michael Close and Matt Crouch.
Saturday will also hold a contest between 3rd and 4th placed TAC Cup teams; the Sandringham Dragons and the Calder Cannons.
Sandringham enters Round 9 after a surprising loss to the Oakleigh Chargers in their last game. The Dragons did not put a score on the board in the first term at Warrawee Park and struggled to take the lead after the slow start.
Sandringham will be taking to the field this weekend without Vic Metro players Tom Temay, James Stewart, Josh Kelly, Christian Salem and Thomas Tyquin.
Opponents, the Calder Cannons sit in fourth place on five wins and 3 losses, maintaining their top four spot only due to percentage. Calder will be looking to put forward a stronger effort than their Round 2 performance that saw the Dragons crush the Cannons by 67 points.
Like other sides, the Calder Cannons will be missing key players due to the Championships. Matthew Dick, Jonathan O’Rourke, Liam McBean and Joe Daniher have all been named in the Vic Metro squad to play South Australia this weekend.
Follow @TACCup on twitter to keep up to date with each games result.
Last Modified on 15/06/2012 17:13