Tough finish to the season for the Magpies, who have had their depth tested the most of any club this year with 46 players used.

The Magpies competed well with the Bulldogs for the first half earlier in the season and no doubt coach Derrick Filo will have them keen to finish what has been a challenging year with a competitive showing on their home ground against a premiership contender.

Last time: Golden Square 22.11 (143) d Castlemaine 6.6 (42).

EAGLEHAWK (15-2) v MARYBOROUGH (1-16) - 2.20pm Saturday at Eaglehawk.

Last game as Magpies’ coach for Shane Skontra, who is bowing out after two years at the helm.

Hard to see there being any fairytale swansong for Skontra. Barring an upset of epic proportions, this game features the minor premier Hawks on a 12-game winning streak against the Magpies, who are set to claim their third-straight wooden-spoon.

At least, though, the Magpies won’t end the season with a 0 in the win column like the previous two years.

Last time: Eaglehawk 30.19 (199) d Maryborough 10.9 (69).

SOUTH BENDIGO (9-8) v KANGAROO FLAT (3-14) - 2.20pm Saturday at Harry Trott Oval.

The Roos will become the latest visiting team to play their first game against the Bloods at Harry Trott Oval.

Both teams only have pride to play for, with Kangaroo Flat having the opportunity to beat a side that will finish above it, while a Bloods’ victory would get them to 10 wins – double last year’s tally of five.

Meanwhile, who was the last player to win a club goalkicking award having played just five games? 

Despite having not played since round five after suffering a season-ending ankle injury, Kaiden Antonowicz is still the Bloods’ leading goalkicker with 29.

Last time: South Bendigo 17.8 (110) d Kangaroo Flat 4.9 (33).

KYNETON (10-5-2) v STRATHFIELDSAYE (14-3) - 2.20pm Saturday at Kyneton.

The Storm were lauded early in the season for their defensive work in which they strangled opposition.

They are still proving tough to score against, but their offence has ramped up significantly with five-consecutive scores of 175, 168, 176, 162 and 150.

With their potency up forward and attacking style, shootouts don’t normally faze the Tigers – now the first club since 1988 to play two senior draws in a season – but on the Storm’s current form this is one shooutout they’d be keen to avoid.

Last time: Strathfieldsaye 14.10 (94) d Kyneton 9.10 (64).

SANDHURST (10-6-1) v GISBORNE (6-11) - 2.20pm Saturday at QEO.

As far as making the finals, the pressure is now off the Dragons as they have locked up their return to September for the eighth year in a row.

Now it’s about getting to next week’s elimination final against Kyneton in the best shape possible, while continuing to build on the back of three wins in a row.

As for Gisborne, the Bulldogs have promised several times this year to claim a scalp of note, but instead they have only been able to beat the three teams they will finish ahead of.

Saturday in their only QEO game of 2017 gives the Bulldogs one last chance to claim that sought-after win of substance to end their season on a high.

Last time: Sandhurst 17.11 (113) d Gisborne 10.10 (70).

• Round 18 tips:

Kieran Iles (72) - Golden Square (72), Eaglehawk (95), South Bendigo (25), Strathfieldsaye (17), Sandhurst (28).

Richard Jones (72) - Golden Square (51), Eaglehawk (88), South Bendigo (30), Strathfieldsaye (27), Sandhurst (33).

Luke West (70) - Golden Square (70), Eaglehawk (100), South Bendigo (20), Strathfieldsaye (24), Sandhurst (30).

Adam Bourke (69) - Golden Square (66), Eaglehawk (82), South Bendigo (32), Strathfieldsaye (40), Sandhurst (27).

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PRELIMINARY FINAL

CALIVIL UNITED (15-2) v NEWBRIDGE (12-6) - 2.15pm Saturday at Maiden Gully.

A spot in the grand final is on the line when the Demons, who boast newly-crowned Harding medallist Ben Knight, and Maroons clash in what’s the first final to be staged at Maiden Gully’s Marist College Oval.

History, and results this year, suggest the Demons deserve to go in as clear favourites.

The Demons have had the Maroons’ measure twice already by margins of 39 and 91 points, while only once since 1994 – Pyramid Hill in 2009 – has a team finished on top of the ladder and not made the grand final.

The big question though will be how will they recover from last week’s second semi-final loss to Bridgewater in which they suffered game-ending injuries to Sam Green (shoulder), Henry Miller (ribs) and Brodie Fraser (shoulder).

The Maroons, though, won’t be fussed that they lost both home and away meetings with the Demons. They had also lost twice to Mitiamo before beating the Superoos by 49 points in last Sunday’s first semi-final.

This season:

Rd 5 - Calivil United 21.10 (136) d Newbridge 15.7 (97).

Rd 14 - Calivil United 20.8 (128) d Newbridge 5.7 (37).

• Tips:

Luke West (56) - Calivil United (15).

Adam Bourke (55) - Calivil United (12).

Kieran Iles (54) - Newbridge (8).

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SECOND SEMI-FINAL

NORTH BENDIGO (15-1) v LEITCHVILLE-GUNBOWER (16-1) - 2.15pm Saturday at Lockington.

There seems an inevitably that these two teams will meet in the grand final on September 9 – it’s just a matter of who takes the direct route through and gets the benefit off the week off in what has become the league’s No.1 modern day rivalry.

Combined, the Bulldogs and Bombers have records of 31-2, with their only losses coming against each other in a pair of one-sided games, while on Wednesday night they had seven of the top eight vote-getters in the Cheatley Medal, won by North Bendigo’s classy midfielder Jarrod Findlay.

It’s a cliche, but given the scoring capacity of both teams – the Bulldogs average 152; the Bombers’ 142 – the midfield battle is going to be crucial in ensuring the ball spends as little time as possible in the opposition forward line. 

This season:

Rd 7 - North Bendigo 23.13 (151) d Leitchville-Gunbower 12.11 (83).

Rd 16 - Leitchville-Gunbower 13.13 (91) d North Bendigo 6.5 (41).

FIRST SEMI-FINAL

COLBINABBIN v HUNTLY - 2.15pm Sunday at North Bendigo.

It’s season-on-the-line for the Grasshoppers and Hawks. In what has been a season of constant blowout results across the league, they bucked the trend with their two home and away games against each other.

Both were decided by six points, with each team winning on their home ground.

The sides are coming off vastly different performances last week, with the Grasshoppers managing just three goals in a 52-point loss to Leitchville-Gunbower, while the Hawks kicked 23 in a 122-point hiding of White Hills.

On the back of four convincing wins in a row by more than 100 points, hard to tip against the Hawks in what will the first time they’ve played Colbinabbin in a final since Provincial became Huntly in 1986.

This season:

Rd 5 - Huntly 12.13 (85) d Colbinabbin 10.19 (79).

Rd 14 - Colbinabbin 14.13 (97) d Huntly 14.7 (91).

• Tips:

Kieran Iles (64) - North Bendigo (7), Colbinabbin (6).

Adam Bourke (62) - North Bendigo (10), Huntly (24).

Luke West (61) - North Bendigo (15), Huntly (30).

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FIRST SEMI-FINAL

SEA LAKE NANDALY TIGERS (11-5) v BOORT (10-5-1) - 2.30pm Saturday at Wedderburn.

The Tigers, after joining the competition last year, play their first NCFL final, while the match will be the Magpies’ first taste of finals action since losing the 2011 preliminary final to Wycheproof-Narraport.

The two sides were 1-1 in their home and away meetings.