The unbeaten Gisborne Bulldogs travel to Canterbury Park on Saturday to play a Borough side that was lucky to hold off struggling Castlemaine by one point last weekend.

The fourth-placed Hawks also have injury concerns, with several senior players unavailable for selection.

"You can't afford to be complacent in this competition,'' Waters said.

"We struggled to beat Eaglehawk at their ground last year, we were very lucky.

"It's a big game for us and we've tried to train accordingly as best we could this week.

"I still believe anyone can beat anyone in this competition. Teams who go in complacent can get rolled.

"The competition is more even than what the ladder might show."

A win over Eaglehawk would give Gisborne a clean sweep of nine wins from nine games in the first half of the season.

It's not something Waters and the Gisborne players have spoken about this week.

"In this round last year we played Sandhurst, who were 8-0 at the time, and we beat them,'' Waters said.

"(8-0 for us) means nothing. We could have easily dropped three games this year.

"People talk about being the hunted and that type of thing, but that talk is really only for people outside of the four walls of the footy club.

"We know where we're at and this week we play a quality opponent on their home ground. It's going to be a big challenge for us."

While Eaglehawk is missing some key players, the Dogs have their own notable omissions.

Star midfielder Brad Bernacki will play his third VFL game for Essendon this season and won't take on the Borough, while classy forward Ethan Foreman is out with a hamstring injury.

The Dogs have also had an interrupted preparation this week.

"Our ground is closed, so we've trained indoors all week... it's not ideal, but we just have to put up with it,'' Waters said.

"We've tried to get the ball in their hands as much as we can, but it's not the same as training on a footy ground.

"Our ground gets a lot of traffic, so we've got to do everything we can to get it right. We're not the only club that goes through it, so we've just got to do the best we can."

The Hawks did have some positive news at the selection table, with forwards Shaun Knott and Sean Williams returning to the side.

Gisborne will play another first-gamer, with talented teenager Matt Weber to make his first senior appearance.

Meanwhile, Kyneton, South Bendigo and Sandhurst will start warm favourites in the remaining three games on Saturday..

The in-form Tigers could find themselves in third place at the end of the round if results fall their way.

They travel to Maryborough on Saturday to play a young Magpies' side that has improved markedly in the past two matches.

South Bendigo heads to Dower Park to play a Kangaroo Flat side on the rebound from its worst performance of the season last week, while at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, Sandhurst will be wary of Castlemaine after the Magpies produced an encouraging performance against Eaglehawk last round.

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