The main interest centres around fifth place as the incumbent Kyneton attempts to hold off Kangaroo Flat.

The Tigers lead Kangaroo Flat by one game and 12 per cent ahead of Saturday’s play.

The Tigers face the daunting task of playing Sandhurst at the QEO and the Roos have a winnable encounter against Castlemaine under lights at Bendigo Mazda Oval.

If Sandhurst hands Kyneton a thrashing in the vicinity of 80 points, the Roos would need to defeat Castlemaine by a similar margin to have any chance of forcing their way into the finals.

The one advantage for the Roos is they’ll know exactly what the equation is when they run out for the first bounce.

“I don’t think there’s an expert out there that knows exactly how to prepare when you’re in a situation like we are,’’ Kangaroo Flat coach Jason Stevens said.

“The first thing we have to is win the game of footy. Pre-match we’ll be keeping an eye on the Sandhurst and Kyneton game and then take it from there once we know what we need to do.

“Hopefully, we can achieve what we need to do.”

The Roos’ best chance of bolstering their percentage is restricting Castlemaine’s scoring.

“You can’t end up in a shootout,’’ Stevens said.

“We can’t allow Castlemaine to kick 15 goals and hope that we kick 25 plus. If we are to achieve what we need to achieve then we have to be dominant at both ends of the ground.”

Saturday night’s game is potentially the last time Stevens coaches the Roos. He will step down as coach at the end of the season and will take on the director of coaching role.

“If we can’t make the finals then our priority remains on winning the game because it would give our club 10 wins for the season,’’ Stevens said.

“If we miss out on percentage again (second time in three years) it would be heartbreaking, but it shows we’re on the right track.”

Saturday night’s game ends the coaching reign of Shane Robertson at Castlemaine.

Robertson, who coached the Magpies to the 2000 premiership in his first stint with the club, is likely to stay on at Castlemaine in a different role.

Sandhurst v Kyneton

For Sandhurst the equation is simple – win the game and it will be crowned minor premier.

The Dragons haven’t won a minor premiership in 15 years and history says finishing on top is a huge advantage when it comes to the finals.

25 of the past 36 minor premiers have gone on to win the flag, while 33 of those 36 have qualified for the grand final.

The added incentive for the Dragons is that Kyneton is the only team they haven’t beaten this year. The Tigers were the last team to beat Sandhurst thanks to an after the siren goal from Bryce Hinneberg in round six.

While the Tigers will enter the game hoping to repeat their round six win, they’ll also have percentage on their mind as they try to keep Kangaroo Flat out of the top five.

If the Dragons do get on top, it will be interesting to see how defensive the Tigers go in the second half.

Golden Square v Eaglehawk

Golden Square coach Nick Carter welcomes the prospect of playing a mentally and physically challenging game one week out from the finals.

The second-placed Bulldogs, who still have an outside chance of collecting the minor premiership, face an Eaglehawk side that has won seven of its past eight games.

“Even though we got a hold of the game after half-time last week (against Kyneton), we thought that game was great preparation for the finals as well,’’ Carter said.

“We’ve made two or three tweaks to our structures that we’ve been trialing and to test them against a red-hot Eaglehawk is a great opportunity for us.

“Our guys really enjoy the rivalry and the contest against Eaglehawk, so this should serve us well for the coming weeks.”

Carter made a statement at selection this week, dropping veteran premiership players Adrian McErvale and Shaun Young.

Among the inclusions was Bendigo Pioneers key forward Jordan Rosengren, who gives the Dogs the opportunity to play up to four talls inside 50 – Rosengren, Ryan Herring, Dylan Johnstone and Travis Baird.

The sideshow to the Dogs-Hawks battle is the contest for the Ron Best Medal.

Eaglehawk’s Matthew Gretgrix leads Johnstone by one goal going into the final round.

Gretgrix, who has 76 goals for the season, was held to one goal the last time these sides met, while Johnstone bagged six.

South Bendigo v Maryborough

The Bloods host the winless Pies at Harry Trott Oval and they should record their fifth victory of the season – one more than they achieved last year.

The Bloods have made great inroads in the second half of the season, including wins over Kyneton and Castlemaine.

While they’ll finish five wins out of the top five, the Bloods will have some momentum to take into 2017.

After their best performance of the season last week, the Pies have been hampered by the loss of Billy Mahoney and Coby Perry to the VFL.

Gisborne v Strathfieldsaye

The young Bulldogs only have pride to play for in their final game of the season.

One look at the ladder and you’d give the Bulldogs little chance, but Strathfieldsaye’s long list of outs would give Gisborne some confidence of causing an upset.

The Storm have taken the opportunity to rest star midfielder Kallen Geary, key forward Tom Bartholomew, ruckman Michael Pilcher and talented youngster Riley Hogan.

They have regained co-coach Bryce Curnow, co-captain Shannon Geary and Pioneers duo Angus Schumacher and Jamieson Sheahan.