Barring a disastrous next fortnight, finals is looming as a lock for Mathoura.
Sitting a win inside the Picola and District Football Netball League top eight with two games remaining, Mathoura will head into its round 15 clash against 13th ranked Deniliquin Rovers tomorrow as heavy favourites.
With the league deciding to resume play tomorrow, senior coach Darcy Robinson said it was a welcomed relief to see everything kick off again.
“I nearly thought it was all done, footy,” he said.
“I thought one more week and we'd be in serious trouble.
“It's good (to be back). It's going to be a bit of a rush having two weeks off football, but as a group we've been doing individual stuff.
“We always kept the mindset of as quick as it can stop, it can get going just as quick.”
After the Picola and District league scrapped two rounds off of the home-and-away season following the recent COVID-19 lockdown, Robinson said having finals on the cusp for his group had given them extra motivation to return stronger than ever.
“There is that little bit of finals footy fuel,” he said.
“You add that to the fire and it keeps burning, but we're back into it pretty quick.
“We'll have a really strong discussion with the group and a couple good sessions on the track (leading up to the game).
“And we'll try and keep it as normal as possible to go into Saturday.”
The break for Mathoura has also given several of its players a chance to make their way back into the senior side.
“We went to Rennie with seven or eight out with injury, so the two weeks break gave us the chance to refresh and recover and get those niggling injuries right,” Robinson said.
“We'll get five of those seven back this week.”
● The pressure will be on Mathoura's A grade netball side tomorrow when it hosts Deni Rovers.
With two points separating Mathoura in seventh from the Rovers, Tungamah and Tocumwal in eighth to 10th, the Timbercutters spot in finals isn't yet guaranteed.
It will come down to which team responds better following the lengthy time away from the court.
However, Mathoura has shown it can rebound after a break when it beat then ladder-leader Katamatite following a previous lockdown in June.