We are under a fortnight away from the BFNL finals, and for those clubs in premiership contention, now is the time to get your house in order.
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Whoever is in the best form at this time of year, more often than not, claims the ultimate prize and in an open race where four sides can make a genuine claim to be firm contenders, it's Golden Square who seems to currently have the most juice behind their premiership tilt.
While Sandhurst has deservedly been the number one seed since the opening rounds of the season, no team is humming like the Bulldogs, who are on are now on a 13-game winning streak following its four-point win over Eaglehawk on Saturday.
They have perfectly timed their run and still have hopes of claiming top spot should the Dragons - who they beat by four goals in round 12 - lose to the Hawks this Saturday.
It's a build that could prove to be premiership worthy, and they showed their brand stacks up in the finals heat with their win over the Hawks in what was a ferocious battle.
Bulldogs coach Christian Carter said the win was the perfect warm-up for what is sure to be a thrilling finals series.
"We bring the best out of each other, and I knew it would be a contested battle which it lived up to," Carter said.
"It's one of those seasons where we've had some easy kills, so I think that contest was good for us going into finals.
"Nothing prepares you better than a game like that, and it was probably one we needed, so it should give us confidence going forward."
It wasn't a pretty win, mainly due to the tenacity of both sides' pressure, but Carter said his side needs to improve their decision-making with ball in hand when faced with such pressure again.
"I thought our back six did a great job, but what let us down was our disposal as we turned it over too many times and got caught out one on one," Carter said.
"There were moments in the game where we should have made better decisions and taken easier options, but we tried to bite too much off, and when the pressure is hot, you've only got to be a little bit off to give them an opportunity to get the ball back."
The Bulldogs' last defeat was to South Bendigo in round four, and the Bloods are a prime example of a side who haven't timed their run.
A 6-3 first half of the season had the Bloods faithful believing, but their 75-point defeat to Gisborne on Saturday, amazingly, means there still a chance of being knocked out of the top five by Kyneton this weekend.
Even if they are to make it, it's hard to see the Bloods doing much damage considering their form compared to that of Strathfieldsaye and Eaglehawk.
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