The Thunder’s finals hopes are well and truly on the line with just three rounds remaining.
And the run home arguably could not be more challenging, with Dookie set to take on three sides within the top five, starting with the Eagles this Saturday.
“It’s a pretty big game, if we want to play finals we’re going to need to win it,” Thunder co-coach Jack Threlfall said ahead of the game.
Shepparton East enters the Dookie fixture on the back of three straight defeats, and will be eager to arrest a downwards plunge this weekend.
"They’re (Shepparton East) obviously playing at home and looking at the ladder, still in the hunt to finish top four,“ Threlfall said.
“They’ll come out swinging.”
Threlfall’s side has steadied the ship with two straight wins following a tough 19-point defeat to Lancaster in early July.
“We’ve been looking pretty good, obviously lost that close one to Lancy a couple of weeks ago,” Threlfall said.
“Now we’ve had a few wins we’re building up to something.”
The top eight race is certainly heating up, with Merrigum, Nagambie and Girgarre all set to duke it out in the final three rounds for the last couple of finals tickets.
“Obviously we need to win a few of these games if we want to play finals, having played them all, we had a narrow loss to Lancy, and in the Shepparton East game we were winning that at half time,” he said.
“We’re just looking to improve on those past performances.”
There’s no shortage of fixtures to look forward to in the KDL split round this weekend.
Over at Longwood, the Redlegs will welcome Geelong premiership star Cameron Mooney this weekend for a fascinating clash with Violet Town as part of Carlton and United Breweries’ (CUB) ‘Carlton Draft’ promotion.
The Towners, positioned on the edge of the top six, could do with a win to book a finals ticket, but won’t find it easy against the Mooney-boosted Redlegs.
Another fascinating fixture is due take place in Avenel, when the top-of-the-table Swans take on a resurgent Nagambie.
The Lakers will head up the Hume in good spirits following a Shepparton East drubbing last time out, while Avenel did it the hard way with a five-point triumph over Stanhope last weekend.
Tallygaroopna welcomes Undera in the final match of this weekend’s split round action.
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