It is second against third in the Goulburn Valley League A-grade netball on Saturday, with Echuca hosting Mooroopna in an enticing contest.
The battle of the giants is sure to be an interesting one, with some of the league’s brightest talents on display.
Both sides will be desperate to take home the four points this weekend, with the top five teams separated by one win.
For Echuca it has been an impressive start to the year, losing one game, while Mooroopna has fallen twice.
The Murray Bombers will welcome back coach Steph Vick, with the Echuca mentor saying her side was looking forward to taking on a competitive Mooroopna side for the first time in a while.
“We’re expecting it to be a pretty tough game right from the goal third down to the defensive end,” Vick said.
“I think there is going to be some good match-ups, especially in defence, that will make it a big challenge for us.”
Echuca’s Belinda Lees is likely to miss Saturday’s game through injury, while fellow interleague stars Ashley Lancaster, Dayna Williams and Elle Brooks will be dangerous for Mooroopna.
With the Murray Bombers’ only loss of the season coming against Seymour, Vick said the side had learnt a lot about what it needed to do to finish the season strong.
“It’s going to be a good game this weekend just to give us an indication of where we will be sitting (come season’s end),” Vick said.
“I’m expecting finals to be very tough this year, it will be a good indication to see exactly where we are sitting and what we need to improve on come finals to get the win.”
Other than the Lees injury, Vick said Echuca was looking strong across the court, with the side set to be ready to go on Saturday.
“We’ve been working on aspects of our game across the entire court, I know defensively Mooroopna are always quite tough and they turn over quite a lot of ball, so our game is going to be about patience and treasuring every possession we get,” Vick said.
“I think it will be pretty dependant on our goalers and how we perform in converting, that’s going to set the two teams apart.”
Like Echuca, Mooroopna will be hungry to pick up as many points as it can, with the table looking like it will go down to the wire.
It was a clinical performance from the Cats last weekend against Rochester and coach Di Hanslow will be hoping for more of the same this week.
Saturday afternoon’s clash between Echuca and Mooroopna will begin at 2.15pm at Echuca’s Victoria Park.