The Hawks, who enter the weekend in fourth spot with a 3-2 record, have not beaten the Grasshoppers in coach Emily Eliades' time at the helm.

The closest they have come since 2017 was an eight-goal margin last season.

But with the Colbinabbin sitting at 3-3 and widely-regarded as not as strong as in recent seasons, this looms as the Hawks' best shot at a win in the last six years.

Albeit the Grasshoppers will head into the clash with confidence courtesy of a two-game winning streak over Heathcote and Leitchville-Gunbower.

In an ultra-tight race outside the current top-three (Elmore, White Hills and Mount Pleasant), Eliades said the clash would be another tough test for her new-look squad, which found form in a 14-goal win over North Bendigo last week.

"We really needed the win (last week), but there's still lots to work on, so hopefully it gave us a bit of belief coming in against Colbo," she said.

"It's a home game for us, but we haven't won at home yet, so it would be really nice to get a win at home against Colbo. It's doable, we just need to step up.

"We haven't been able to beat them in my time here ... we've come close on at least one occasion, so hopefully this is our chance.

"They haven't been as strong as recent years, but they are really hanging in there."

Meanwhile, Lockington-Bamawm United and North Bendigo both get the chance to notch up their second win of the season when the two teams clash at Lockington.

Cats coach Jessie Hardess acknowledged it was unfamiliar ground for her team, going into a match with strong expectations of a win, or at worst, as joint-favorites.

"I am really keen to see what the girls can do and see how they approach a game they know is going to be tight, but winnable," she said.

"I don't think we've been into a game thinking we're a favourite for a long, long time, but we go on in knowing we will be competitive.

"Realistically there are about four teams we know we can win against if we bring our best netball on the day and if everyone steps up.

"This one comes with a bit of expectation and it's pretty exciting for us."

Jesie Milligan has continued her best and fairest-winning form of last season in defence for the Cats, while midcourters Tracy and Maddy Atherton were the team's best in last week's loss to Mount Pleasant.

Pleased with her team's progress, Hardess pinpointed the Cats' start to games as one area in need of improvement.

"That's what cost us against Huntly (in a three-goal loss), we didn't start the game right and found ourselves six goals down," she said.

"We just couldn't quite get the margin back.

"We need to learn how to get the jump on the other team rather than the other way around, so that's what we will be looking for this week."

At Leitchville, the Bombers will tackle the might of ladder leaders Elmore.

The Bloods have won six-straight matches, to add to their 12 in a row from last season, and were in excellent form in last week's 64-34 win over Heathcote.

After starting its season with a stirring win at Huntly, Leitchville-Gunbower has dropped its last four and would need to be at its absolute best to overcome the Bloods.

At Heathcote, the Saints come up against a fresh White Hills.

A much improved season for Heathcote has included two wins and a pair of near-misses against Mount Pleasant and Colbinabbin.

White Hills' 62-55 loss to Elmore before last week's bye represents the Demons' only loss for the season in five games.

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