AND then there were five.

What started out with nine teams in April vieing to be part of the Loddon Valley league's first finals series for three years has been whittled down to Marong, Pyramid Hill, Mitiamo, Bridgewater and Bears Lagoon-Serpentine.

While there are five teams that are left standing, clearly there have been two sides that over the course of the home and away season have separated themselves from the rest - Marong and Pyramid Hill.

And if the ladder is any indication of the way in which the finals series that kicks off on Saturday will play out then the LVFNL is heading for a lengthy premiership drought being broken by either Marong or Pyramid Hill.

That's no disrespect to the other three contenders still in the mix, but following 18 rounds of exposed form Marong and Pyramid Hill are the two clear standouts heading into the business end of the season.

After all, their only losses of the season were one against each other - Pyramid Hill beat Marong by 12 points in round four, while the Panthers returned the favour in round 13 by 46 points.

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Between the Panthers and Bulldogs they head into the finals series with a combined record of 30-2 and percentage of 634.9 and with 16 wins between them by more than 100 points.

However, between them they also carry into the finals combined premiership droughts of 105 years.

Despite constantly having put themselves in a position at the pointy end for the best part of two decades to challenge, frustratingly for the Bulldogs they continue to be the holders of one of country Victoria's longest premiership droughts.

With the Bulldogs' last flag having come in 1950 it's a drought that's now at 72 years after they came up short again in the 2019 grand final against Mitiamo - the last time the league has completed a full season.

As the saying goes, if you keep banging on the door, eventually it's got to open and the Bulldogs under coach Nathan Fitzpatrick are knocking hard this year?

At Marong, the Panthers are gunning for their first flag since 1989 - the year they beat Mitiamo by 80 points in the grand final.

The Panthers have only made one other grand final since in 2004 against Calivil United (lost by 66), but having finished top of the ladder are just two wins away from a first flag in 33 years.

While Pyramid Hill has proven the Panthers can be beaten, they have been an absolute juggernaut as a percentage of 351.3 will attest, while the goalkicking feats of full-forward Brandyn Grenfell (league record 143) have generated headlines week after week.

With the 72 home and away games done and dusted - and what a relief it must be for the league to have completed them all without any major COVID hiccups - the finals begin on Saturday at Marong.

Perhaps fittingly the finals will be welcomed back by the two teams that contested the leagues's last final, 2019 grand finalists Pyramid Hill and Mitiamo in the qualifying final.

Clearly, Mitiamo will carry the underdog status given the Superoos finished five games and 162 per cent behind the Bulldogs.

However, the Superoos have plenty of experienced players who have been there and done it before on the big stage - Ash Benbow, Kyle Patten, Matt Grant, Tom Grant, Dougie Thomas, Michael I'Anson, Jarryd Wiegard, Luke Lougoon, Ryan Wellington and Lucas Matthews to name a few - and they have proven they have more than what it takes to compete with the Bulldogs.

Pyramid Hill snuck over the line by less than a kick in both home and away meetings, winning by four and five points in games where they kicked a combined 15.41 - 5.22 in round six and 10.19 in round 15.

And on Sunday it will be Bridgewater and Bears Lagoon-Serpentine putting their seasons on the line against each other in the elimination final at Mitiamo.

The Mean Machine have had the edge over Bears Lagoon-Serpentine in their two home and away meetings and certainly hit the finals with a much better lead-in after knocking over third-placed Mitiamo last week, while the Bears copped a hiding off non-finalist Maiden Gully YCW.

WINS:

Marong - 15

Pyramid Hill - 15

Mitiamo - 10

Bridgewater - 10

BL-Serpentine - 7

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PERCENTAGE:

Marong - 350.4%

Pyramid Hill - 284.6%

Mitiamo - 122.3%

Bridgewater - 112.9%

BL-Serpentine - 72.3%

.........................................

AVERAGE FOR:

Marong - 156

Pyramid Hill - 119

Mitiamo - 86

Bridgewater - 85

BL-Serpentine - 67

.........................................

AVERAGE AGAINST:

Pyramid Hill - 42

Marong - 44

Mitiamo - 71

Bridgewater - 75

BL-Serpentine - 93

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QUARTERS WON:

Marong - 57

Pyramid Hill - 50

Mitiamo - 34

Bridgewater - 33

BL-Serpentine - 27

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1ST HALF SCORING:

Marong - +820

Pyramid Hill - +542

Mitiamo - +149

Bridgewater - +55

BL-Serpentine - -275

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2ND HALF SCORING:

Marong - +960

Pyramid Hill - +691

Mitiamo - +101

Bridgewater - +100

BL-Serpentine - -138

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GOAL CONVERSION:

Marong - 61.5%

Pyramid Hill - 56.7%

Bridgewater - 51.3%

BL-Serpentine - 51.0%

Mitiamo - 50.0%

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