The club occupies last place on the competition table and is facing the possibility of relegation at season end.

A loss to top-placed Victoria on Saturday could all but sure up club's fate with one round remaining.

Central Wendouree skipper Len Vincent said unless the club can turn its form around, it will be playing in division one next season.

"It's a massive game for us. We're now in the position where we have to rely on other teams losing, especially Mt Xavier because they got the maximum against us last week," he said.

The bleak situation is a far-cry from earlier in the year when the club was rolling and pushing for a place in the top four. Vincent said the motivation of opposition sides has been greater, while Central Wendouree's had fallen away.

"We were on a roll early in the season, but after Christmas we seem to have dropped away for no particular reason other than a loss of form and positional changes that didn't work," he said.

"We just wanted to spice things up. We tried using our new carpet, but because it was new, I don't think we got the home ground advantage we thought we might have ended up with."

"The club is probably in the team-building stage at the moment."

Despite the turn for the worse, the Bears have reason to be optimistic after beating the Vics by eight shots in round eight. Vincent said if the club has a good day, it's capable of beating anybody.

"We gave them a good fight last time we played them," he said.

Central Wendouree will enter the match without the services of Michael Kennedy, who has spent time at skipper in recent weeks.

Meanwhile Ballarat will look to reclaim top spot against Learmonth, which are looking for it's seventh straight win.

Webbcona will attempt to hold off Ballarat Memorial Sports, which is looking to re-enter the top four. Buninyong will travel to Mt Xavier, while Creswick will face Sebastopol.