NOW'S the time where the pressure really starts to turn up.
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There's two games to play in AFL Central West senior women's and men's tier one competitions before the finals arrive, while in the men's tier two competition we go into the last round this Saturday.
All the finalists have been decided - it's just a question of what order they will all finish.
Here's the stories to focus on ahead of this Saturday's action...
1) Giants look to lock down second spot
A CHANCE to upset your local rivals while almost locking in a home preliminary final?
It's not an opportunity that comes across every day but it's there to play for when the Bathurst Giants host the Bushrangers this Saturday.
Last Saturday's vital away win at Dubbo - which will likely end up being the Giants' most important result of the regular season - has given Mark Kennedy's men the edge they needed over the Demons on the ladder.
It's the perfect game to bring into a match against the Bushrangers.
Sam Sloan was a goal machine, with nine to his name, and the Giants didn't produce a single dour quarter of football.
They're yet to find a way past the Bushrangers this season but if they bring more of the same quality of football from the Demons match then they will certainly unsettle the minor premiers.
Kennedy said the success against Dubbo was a wonderful achievement but the job's not done yet.
"This weekend we're looking forward to the challenge. It's on our ground, and we tend to play to our ground quite well," he said.
"I'm not too sure whether it's going to influence where people finish at this stage. We just need to win against Orange to make sure we hold onto second position.
"We really want that home final. That's the focus now. We need to make sure the gap is as close as we can get it with Bushrangers and then if we can knock off Orange in the last round that will hopefully lock us in."
2) Reid's a milestone man for the Blues
LAST Saturday Brad Reid reached a milestone when he played his 150th game for the Cowra Blues.
The Blues marked the occasion by winning a good battle with the Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels 36-28.
But milestones are nothing new when it comes to the Reids and the Cowra Blues - over the years 19 members of the family have donned the navy blue.
There's Brad, there has been two Brendans, two Troys and two Glenn Reids in action, then there's Brahe, Chaydin, Craig, Djakai, Kim, Malik, Nathan, Shakalia, Tiffany, Tristan, Tyrone and Wayne.
Between them they've amassed over 1,600 games for the club.
3) Lady Bushrangers believe every underdog has its day
IF you asked most followers of the AFL Central West which teams they expected to see in this year's women's grand final the answer would be Bathurst Giants and Dubbo, but if you ask Ciara Kearns you'd get a different response.
The Bathurst Lady Bushrangers captain will freely admit her side is a massive underdog, but she will just as soon tell you that her side is capable of springing an upset.
And if the Bathurst Lady Bushrangers are to pull off an epic boil over, belief will certainly be a key ingredient.
"Before we even started in round one we had that belief in our team, we had that good core and have had people come back from injury as we've been going, which has been really good to solidify that experience on the field," Kearns said.
"I think that belief is there from the coaches, the belief is there in the team, we just need the belief on the day to get there. You never know what is going to happen come finals, but we're going to be there and we're going to fight."
While the Lady Bushrangers have not managed to beat either the competition leading Giants or second-placed Dubbo so far this year, they have been competitive for periods against them.
The promising sign for the side is that those periods in which they are competitive are getting longer. Over the past fortnight they've produced their best footy of the season.
That in turn is fuelling that all important self belief and positive approach.
"We're a positive team and we all love being around one another, That's our biggest strength, that we actually enjoy each other's company and we just keep coming back and coming back," Kearns said,
"So as long as we bring that on the field, we'll keep enjoying every game, we just keep building and building.
"If we get those numbers to training the next few weeks, you never know what is going to happen. We could come through and pull out a big one."
4) Bushrangers not in the mood to drop games
THEY'VE been locked into a home grand final for some time now but that hasn't stopped the Bathurst Bushrangers from playing with passion in the run towards finals.
The team were missing all three of their leading forward options in last round's win over the Orange Tigers and still got the job done relatively easily, but they'll need to be better against rivals Giants this Saturday.
With the way Giants have been going about their business Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer said his team needs to be on point this round.
"Giants have hit form at the right time of the year. They had a massive win over Orange and that win against Dubbo was probably one of their biggest wins in recent times," he said.
"Going over there with second place on the line and coming away with a 40 point win is huge, so they're going to be up for this one.
"We need to treat it as a finals game. We don't play a finals game until the grand final so we don't want to be underdone for that one.
"We need to be up for it and make sure that our level of competitiveness is there so that we don't hit the grand final flat.
"That needs to be there, otherwise they're going to make us look silly on the weekend."
5) Minor premiership isn't a major focus - it's about playing good footy
A MINOR premiership, a direct path to the grand final, playing that decider in your home town - sounds pretty good right?
Well while that's a path the Bathurst Giants women are on track to take, coach Liz Kennedy doesn't exactly mind if it doesn't unfold that way.
For her, it's more about having her side enjoying their football and rising to whatever challenge they face. They've already faced plenty this season too.
"With the injuries that we've had maybe having that week off if we finish minor premiers will freshen the girls up, but either way, as I've said before, these girls are just happy to play footy," she said.
"We've had a rough trot this year, you can't plan for COVID, you can't plan for the flu, you can't plan for the injuries that we've had, so kudos to the girls who have been able to stand up when we were backs to the wall. They were still able to produce."
Produce is exactly what the Giants did last Saturday to put themselves in the box seat to claim the minor premiership.
The Giants defeated Dubbo in Dubbo to now sit four points clear of them it on the ladder with two rounds remaining.
To come is this Saturday's local derby against the Lady Bushrangers then a clash with the currently winless Orange Tigers in the final round.
"We still can't rest on our laurels, Dubbo are still close enough and stranger things have happened," Kennedy said.
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