All eyes will turn to Raeburn Reserve come Saturday as Pascoe Vale play host to Keilor in a blockbuster clash in Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division.
The Panthers are hot on the heels of the ladder leading Blues, sitting just one game behind the top two in third place.
A win against Aberfeldie a fortnight ago helped close the gap for Digby Morrell's men and they'll see this game as another opportunity to prove their credentials in the Premier Division race.
A rampant win against Avondale Heights last week saw Brad Inglis kick seven goals in an effort that is becoming a customary annual occasion after a haul of eight last year against Glenroy.
With the Panthers being the lowest scoring side in the current top five, the forward line mix will have to be right with the likes of Inglis supporting the vocal point, Matt Watson in attack.
While Pacco are on the hunt, Keilor will not make it an easy task for the home side.
After a hiccup in Round 4 against Aberfeldie, Mick McGuane has had his team at its clinical best with star performances from Nick O'Kearney, Brad Xavier, Matt Clark and Kyle O'Connor leading the way for the Blues despite the absences of Dean Galea and Kane Barbuto in recent weeks.
The result of this contest will go on to prove how close this premiership battle is amongst a tightly fought top four.
On the Nena and Pasadena Match of the Day an equally as intriguing battle will take place at the other end of the ladder as Greenvale welcome Avondale Heights to Section Road.
Its been a tough start to the season for the Heights as Patrick Byrne's team currently languishes in last place on the Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division ladder.
However, it is not all doom and gloom for the side from Canning Reserve.
There have been some spirited contests from the Heights that have seen them get within 11 and 13 points respectively of Maribyrnong Park and Aberfeldie.
Key operators in the Avondale line-up have also been playing good football with Dinny Cleary, Jackson Robb and Josiah Garisto in among the bests most weeks.
On the flip side, Greenvale have a couple more wins on the board but have struggled to hit the lofty standards they have set in seasons gone by.
This is a far different Jets team than that contending for premierships only five years ago.
There are still members from those glory days contributing highly with Nick Maric being one of the better players this season for the Jets, and with the two lowest scoring teams going head-to-head, Jacob Thompson's ability in front of goal will play a key factor in this game.
Glenroy will face a difficult task on Saturday when Ross Terranova's side heads to Overland Reserve to take on East Keilor.
An injury decimated Roys side couldn't hold on last week against Essendon Doutta Stars in a result that could prove telling towards the back end of the season.
Meanwhile East Keilor have been given a minor reality check, with defeats at the hands of Keilor and Aberfeldie in the past three weeks proving the Cougars still have a bit of work to do to close the gap on the competition's powerhouses.
Lastly Essendon Doutta Stars are back at home looking to make it back-to-back wins when Maribyrnong Park come to Nipper Jordan Oval.
After missing last week's game with Covid, Paul Barnard should be back on the board relieving caretaker Barry Prendergast with a perfect record after the win against Glenroy.
Outside of a heavy defeat to Strathmore, Douttas have been plucky on their home deck but with a top four spot slowly slipping away from Marby, the Lions will give this game everything.
Local rivals will face-off in Rookie Me Division One when Westmeadows makes the trip down Mickelham Road to play Tullamarine at Leo Dineen Reserve.
The Tigers tasted victory in the 'Dave Connell Cup' last season for the first time since the now Tulla senior coach departed Willowbrook Reserve and Mo Kaakour will be keen to replicate that result again away from home.
The Tigers are in a rich vein of form, having won their last four games to claw themselves back inside the Rookie Me Division One top four, but Tullamarine will be a tougher task than what they've faced in recent weeks.
The Demons put together one of their most complete performances last weekend, taking care of Roxburgh Park to the tune of 76 points.
Shaun McKernan kicked another five goals to take his season tally to 32 and go atop the Division One goal kicking table.
There will plenty of good battles across the board in this one, with Jason Kenneth a chance to line-up against McKernan. George Nabbout and Ahmed Abdul-Wahed will go head-to-head with a star-studded Tulla midfield of Anthony Liberatore, Anthony Prestia, James Vistarini and Steve Vocale, while the Tigers have good options up forward in Omar Saad and Jayden Ranno.
At DS Aitken Reserve, an important clash will take place with Craigieburn set to host Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Despite the Eagles coming down from Premier Division and the Fog coming up from Strathmore Community Bank Division Two, both sides sit at an equal ledger at 1-7 to start the year with each team's wins coming against bottom placed Sunbury Kangaroos.
The two teams look to be pretty evenly matched, with Craigieburn sporting a slightly higher offence and the Fog better on defence than their opposition.
For the away side, they need to find a way to stick around in this contest for all four quarters.
On a number of occasions the Fog have been brave enough to keep in the fight for large periods of games, but momentary lapses has seen Ian Denny's side on the end of more honourable losses than they'd be happy with.
As for Justin Sherman's team, they'll be backing themselves on their home deck.
With Sam Rexhepi and Billy Morrison dangerous targets up forward, the Eagles will be looking to expose Moonee Valley's back six.
Rupertswood and West Coburg will do battle in a tantalising contest at Salesian College.
Both teams are two of four clubs currently sitting at 5-3 on the Rookie Me Division One ladder as the spot in the top four starts to heat up.
If you're one to read into patterns, Rupo could be in trouble in this match having gone win-loss-win-loss-win over its last five games in this division.
Whereas for the Burgers, they're just starting to settle after back-to-back wins have seen Dale May's side slide up to third on the ladder.
After Daniel Archer finally found his kicking boots last week with five goals and Lynden Dunn an ever ominous presence up forward, it should be a good contest with the likes of Jacob Chahine and Mitch Johnson up the other end, despite the weather forecast.
Roxburgh Park will be looking to bounce back after consecutive defeats to the competition's best two teams.
They'll come up against the bottom placed Sunbury Kangaroos, who despite some brave performances last month, were comprehensively dismantled by Airport West last week.
The Eagles will keep looking to do what they've done all season when they travel to Shark Park to take on Hillside.
It would be a monumental upset if the Sharks were to come away with the win against Trent Rogers' undefeated team.
Although we're not quite at the halfway mark in the Strathmore Community Bank Division Two season, every team has played each other once, providing a pretty good read on where most of the teams sit this season.
The hardest team to place may well be Taylors Lakes with the Lions suffering a number of agonising results over the last three rounds.
Charles Cuzzupi's team went down by one point against Keilor Park in Round 5 with the ball travelling inside for a forward 50 mark, then a last second point to Vince Angelone saw the points split against Burnside Heights. And if it wasn't for a heroic mark in the dying stages from Hadfield's Ben Pretty, the Lions may well have been able to conjure a goal instead of trailing by four points when the final siren sounded.
So despite a 2-4-1 form line for the Lakers, who currently sit sixth on the ladder and eight points adrift from the top four, the team from Lionheart Reserve aren't far off the pace.
They'll hit the road this weekend to play Coburg Districts at Cole Reserve, with the Districts two premiership points ahead of the visitors after back-to-back wins have kicked started their campaign.
Only 11 points separated these two sides in Round One and this weekend's contest shapes up to be another cracker.
Hadfield pulled off one of the upsets of the season in Round One when they knocked off the highly fancied Keilor Park at its home ground.
Since that day the Devils have gone on undefeated, winning six games in a row to sit just 0.06 per cent behind first placed Oak Park.
The Hawks themselves have won four on the trot now to put themselves in a very healthy position on the Strathmore Community Bank Division Two ladder.
The team from Martin Reserve sit two games clear inside the top four, having not tasted finals football since its premiership success back in 2015.
Can the Hawks do the unimaginable and knock-off the Devils for a second time this season?
An interesting game will take place at the bottom of the Strathmore Community Bank Division Two ladder with Northern Saints playing Jacana.
The Jaguars will have the white shorts on in this game as the away side but the contest will take place at Jacana Reserve due to the unavailability of changerooms at the Northern Saints' home of Charles Mutton Reserve.
It will be a little boost of the 'away' team with Glenn McIntyre's team showing consistent improvement week after week.
Throughout 2022, the Jags have held an average losing margin of 194 points, but the last three weeks has seen that average blitzed by 10 goals, to get it down to 138.
In this period the Jags on average are scoring a goal more a game and conceding roughly 50 points less a game.
The margin in this contest in Round 1 was 192 points, could we see it shrunk to a double figure margin this weekend?
Finally, at JP Fawkner Reserve, ladder leaders Oak Park will host Burnside Heights.
The Kangaroos bounced back last week after being dismantled by Keilor Park to get the victory against the Northern Saints.
Todd Clark has plenty of experience in his line-up but a boost from some young gun Roos has seen this team find a new energy.
Jake Bushell and Zac Graham both made their senior debuts last week, while last year's AGA Apprenticeships Plus Under 18.5 Division Two best and fairest winner Taj McCartney has played a number of games alongside Anthony De Lorenzi.
The Bears will offer a good challenge, though.
Team of the Year forward Anthony Fawcus returned for Aidan Stott's side last week with a four-goal effort, adding another string to what has been a dynamic and unpredictable forward structure for the Bears.
THIS WEEKEND’S FIXTURES
GREENVALE v AVONDALE HEIGHTS
🎥 Cluch TV
📻 98.9 North West FM
Saturday 2:15pm at Greenvale Recreation Reserve
ESSENDON DOUTTA STARS v MARIBYRNONG PARK
Saturday 2:15pm at Nipper Jordan Oval
EAST KEILOR v GLENROY
Saturday 2:15pm at Overland Reserve
PASCOE VALE v KEILOR
Saturday 2:15pm at Raeburn Reserve
RUPERTSWOOD v WEST COBURG
Saturday 2:15pm at Salesian College - Oval 1
CRAIGIEBURN v MOONEE VALLEY
Saturday 2:15pm at DS Aitken Reserve
HILLSIDE v AIRPORT WEST
Saturday 2:15pm at Hillside Reserve
SUNBURY KANGAROOS v ROXBURGH PARK
Saturday 2:15pm at Eric Boardman Reserve
TULLAMARINE v WESTMEADOWS
Saturday 2:15pm at Leo Dineen Reserve
COBURG DISTRICTS v TAYLORS LAKES
Saturday 2:15pm at Cole Reserve
OAK PARK v BURNSIDE HEIGHTS
Saturday 2:15pm at JP Fawkner Reserve
NORTHERN SAINTS v JACANA
Saturday 2:15pm at Jacana Reserve
HADFIELD v KEILOR PARK
Saturday 2:15pm at Martin Reserve
