Gingin Eagle Brendon Fewster takes on two Wongan-Ballidu players.
WONGAN-BALLIDU could be excused for looking nervously over a shoulder at a looming Goomalling but given a giant upset, it looks as though Mortlock's final four is written in stone.
However, it is the positioning of the fortunate four that is now of prime interest.
Toodyay, playing excellent football, for the moment hold top spot but it hard to see them holding the minor premiership title when they are to suffer a bye this coming weekend.
The Lions are a game and two percentage points ahead of Gingin but the Eagles are matched this weekend against cellar dwellers Calingiri and with that result easily predicted, Gingin will take the ladder lead and with the way they are playing, who's to argue they won't stay there regardless of the three qualifying games to go.
Now comes a twist in a Tiger's tail.
Toodyay have well earned their position in the top two and two bites at the cherry come finals time but their new assumed role as number two is not assured.
A very real threat comes from the Dowerin Tigers who look like having two expected wins from the last four qualifiers and a home game against Toodyay.
The Lions have a bye and two tough ones in their run home and with this second and third on the ladder should fall to the Lions and Tigers.
And if this competition was to get really close, then the fortunes of Wongan-Ballidu could intervene and then it becomes a three-horse race for a coveted number two spot.
All this conjecture, however, is dependent on the most important factor come crunch time – which sides will be complete, uninjured and reaching their peak.
Wongan-Ballidu, at the present, is wanting in that department, Dowerin and Toodyay could be healthier while for Gingin it all looks to easy.
The Eagles ace in the hole is their reserves side, again unbeaten and looking for their third premiership in a row fielding a side each week which could beat most in Mortlock's league sides.
With this sort of back up, Gingin's league side continues to hold favouritism exemplified by their recent game against Dowerin where they had to drag seven from their reserves but still went on to win an away game by near seven goals.
Nevertheless finals football is a different ball game and getting there for the 2012 season is far from a fait accompli.
Boomers fail test
With Geoffrey Rouse booting two in the first two minutes of play and a seven goals to nothing first quarter score line, there was never any doubt which way the long awaited Gingin versus Wongan-Ballidu test was going to go.
The game was seen by many as a real showing of the Boomers' potential at the business end of the season after a magic early run seeing them placed at one time, top of the ladder.
But Wongan-Ballidu's slide into the doldrums has been caused by a continuing run of injuries which saw the two on-ballers brothers Ryan and Morgan Prott, ruck Brett Lines, back man Ben Boekeman and star full back John Simmons missing for this occasion together with the usually heavy input of Josh Hunt injured in the second quarter.
With the Boomers fronting with 16 in the reserves side, it was obvious the side was seriously undermanned.
Little wonder a well-fed Rouse should go on another goal-kicking picnic with a total of ten (picked up a nine at Country Week) and with the Eagles still maintaining a seven-goal lead at half time, the Boomers were always behind the eight-ball allowing Gingin to ease off the pedal and coast to an easy ten-goal win.
If things look bad for the Boomers, the opposite appears for the Eagles with the return of Glen Britten after six weeks injured, ruck rover Rheece Bartel, roving mate Chris Samata, blooded reserves Brayden Worth and Tom Woodruff all playing good footy with the American ruck Jason Wilhelm getting better each week.
Then there's Brendon Fewster on call and the rampaging Rouse doing very well between the sticks.
Add their reserves side back up and Gingin should be seen as coasting.
Down but not out
Playing 17 in reserves and with eight injured and three overseas out of the league side, the Dalwallinu Bulldogs should be seen at their lowest ebb and yet they are performing well considering their lack of numbers.
This was evident in the first half of their game against the Toodyay juggernaut last weekend.
Although skills and fitness was lacking during that time and was to eventually let them down, their attack on the ball was morale-boosting to the side which saw them only trailing by three goals going into the second half.
It was all the Lions from there on to an 83 points pushover but that magic period for Dally did much to stir the Bulldog spirit in the closing stages of a season offering little reward.
Matt Flaherty and Nathaniel Welburn may have been missing from the Lions but the delivery to Ryan Pearce at full forward was excellent allowing him to find nine big ones and contribute well to the near-misses score to be named his side's best.
Dally's best has a regular list of names in Todd McNeill, Brent Leeson, William Roach and Scott Galbraith and for McNeill, on this occasion, was his move from the normal back line to an on-the-ball changing to half forward role to find a major.
Leeson was also noted for his rucking competition with the Lions' Michael Patching doing much to match Patching's height and size and probably limiting his influence.
Percentage points bump
If the numbers game is spoiling the fun for most in Mortlock, spare a thought for the hapless Calingiri Cougars.
Last weekend some thought they might have had an outside chance against a visiting Goomalling and after a competitive first quarter it was shaping up that way.
But after pulling seven from the reserves side and that seven playing two games, much of the bite evaporated from the Cougars and Goomalling comfortably wandered to a 126 points victory which gave them a handy 13 percentage points bump toward their last minute charge for the four.
Whether this will prove an advantage to the Blues will be determined by their coming weekend's game against Wongan-Ballidu, the only possible open door to the four.