It's going to be some return to the park for Melton.
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By virtue of the lockdown and a bye in round seven, the Bloods have spent the past month on the sidelines.
There will be no easy game back to dust off the cobwebs, either.
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Instead, the Bloods travel to Ballarat for the first time this season.
Their opponent? The league's leader, who hasn't looked close to losing a game in the past five rounds.
Melton coach Aaron Tymms was viewing the top-of-the-table showdown against North Ballarat as the first real test of his group's credentials.
"Obviously, you want to test yourself against the best, and they've been the benchmark this season," he told The Courier. "We'll get a bit of an indication of where we're at once we play them."
The Bloods, comfortably in second with a 5-1 record, have only played two other sides currently sitting in a finals spot.
A one-point win against Sebastopol in round three was a confidence-booster before a five-goal loss to East Point two weeks later offered a reality check.
"We spoke about it (as a group) the other night; we've only played two sides in the top six," Tymms said.
"One of them we only beat by a point, and the other smashed us off the park.
"So, although we look good where we're sitting, we haven't played the top sides at the moment."
As one of the league's three Melbourne-based clubs, Melton had to tackle the break differently to its regional counterparts.
The Bloods returned to training later than those in regional Victoria and were only given the green light to resume community sport last week.
"I'm actually happy we had the bye (last week) because we would have gone into the game without having any real preparation at all," Tymms said.
"We ended up having a scratch match on Saturday just to get a proper hit-out.
"It was good to get the balls back in the boys' hands and have a proper run-around, but there is nothing like actual match simulation against quality opposition.
"It was OK to get a bit of a break but four weeks is just way too long.
"So, it's pretty much a case of resetting and starting again."
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