Case in point back in round four of the VFL when the Gold were talked up as a genuine chance at the QEO against Footscray, only to get belted by 155 points.

But at the risk of being made to like a fool in a fortnight to even suggest it - considering the stand-alone Gold have only ever gotten within five goals of their opponents twice in their 25 games since parting with Essendon - over the next two weeks the Gold are met with arguably their two best chances this season of finally breaking through for a long-awaited win.

This Sunday the Gold return to the QEO for the first time since that horror night against Footscray on Anzac Day to take on Coburg.

The following week the Gold make the trip down to Frankston to take on the Dolphins.

Most weeks the Gold step onto the park it’s an uneven playing field purely from the fact that 11 of their 15 opponents feature AFL-listed players, either through alignments or clubs such as Richmond, Essendon, Collingwood, Geelong and Footscray that have their own stand-alone VFL teams.

In such cases, it’s essentially professional footballers taking on amateurs where, for players on the Gold list, football plays second fiddle to work or study.

 It’s one of the reasons Bendigo has always struggled going it alone in the VFL, with the combined records of the Bendigo Diggers (1998-2002) and Gold since splitting with Essendon at the end of 2012 just seven wins from 120 games. A horrendous figure.

But over these next two weeks, it’s a level playing field for the Gold against two stand-alone VFL clubs, and two clubs that are also doing it tough this season. 

Coburg has won just two games and lost its other five by at least five goals, while the Dolphins have only a draw against Richmond from their seven games.

Particularly this Sunday back on their home ground for the first time in six weeks and fresh from a week off after the state game bye, there’s no excuses for the Gold to at the very least be as competitive as they have been since going it alone.

After encouraging early signs when they played patches of football good enough to outscore Geelong, Werribee and Essendon in quarters, the past month has been bitterly disappointing for the Gold, with the magnitude of their past four defeats reminiscent of last year when the average losing margin was 96 points and the club’s future was at the crossroads.

The past four games have featured three losses by at least 99 points, but if the Gold needed some extra inspiration heading into this weekend - and any other battling team for that matter - they only need to grab a copy of the GWS Giants’ mighty effort against Hawthorn last Sunday.

The Giants fell just seven points short of beating the reigning premiers on the back of a similar patch of poor form the Gold has endured the past month. 

A win over these next two weeks won’t silence the Gold’s knockers - particularly the keyboard warriors who constantly take pot shots at the club on the Addy website under pseudonym names -  but it would be great reward for a bunch of young players who continue to front up week after week and give their all in Australia’s second-best footy competition.

Fingers crossed.