The Roos are playing for their place in the top eight - almost certainly needing to defeat their arch-rival to retain eighth and contest finals.

It is the second week in a row Waubra has gone into a game knowing a win will catapult it into finals.

The Roos could not get the job done against Dunnstown, but that loss did not mean the end of the line.

This time Waubra is not expecting a double chance. Unless Beaufort causes a boilover against Rokewood-Corindhap, a loss for the Roos at Waubra will mean mothballs and the end of James' time as coach.

James admits he is a little nervous.

"It looks as close as it can be on paper.

"If we're good enough we'll be there the following week, if we're not we won't be. It's a final for us," he said.

"At the end of the day it is in our own control."

James believes the winner will have to play right up to its best.

"There are occasions when you don't play that well and still win.

"That won't be the case here," he said.

While Learmonth is safely entrenched in the top and already knowing it will face Buninyong in an elimination final, coach Nick Willox said the Lakies would be treating the clash as a final.

"As far as we're concerned we're starting finals now. We're not waiting.

"It's been good to have a week off (with a bye) to freshen up physically and mentally.

"We've done the hard work we need to.

"Now we want to go into the finals with a win - especially against a rival like Waubra," he said.

Given the rivalry between the sides, Willox believes it will have a finals-like atmosphere and be ideal for the Lakies to get a taste of the pressure that goes with it.

Waubra's James Lukich and Learmonth spearhead Damon Folkes are potential match-winners.

Learmonth will have two of its most important players in midfielder Brenton Powell and defender Matt Harbour, as well as Max Rowe, who will be playing seniors for the first time since round 10.

Willox has decided to rest a troublesome hamstring for another week and get a good look at players from the sidelines.

Bailey Colligan returns after missing four weeks for Waubra, while ruckman Geordie Lukich has been named for the cut-throat game. Lukich has not been sighted since injuring an ankle in round nine and is no certainty to line-up.

Dunnstown goes into the last round with eight wins on the trot and a firm favourite to make it nine.

The Towners were expected to take another step up this season, but they have done even more than that.

Coach Glenn Wilkins has put together an even line-up, based on a defence which gives little away.

They have the potential to run into lethal forwards in the finals in the likes of Adam Toohey, Mitch Banner and Stephen Staunton.

This match will be a good test to see how they handle those challenges, with Marcus Darmody finishing off the season strongly for the Cats.

While a win might be beyond Newlyn, it will be looking to send off coach Chris Banwell, who has been named in the side, with a spirited performance.

Dunnstown has chosen to rest Travis Parsons to ensure he is right for the opening week of finals. He is replaced by Connor Tangey, who is in the seniors for the first time since round nine.

Newlyn regains defender Matthew Cosgrave after illness key position player Tom Carey and has also named Sandringham VFL-listed Chris Carey. The Cats lose Jed Labbett.

Gordon will officially be crowned minor premier.

As rewarding as that is, the Eagles have their minds on bigger things and this will be just another stepping stone.

It has not been an easy run home for Ballan.

They have had trouble keeping a settled line-up and not being able to play at their home ground also seems to have taken a toll on the Blues.

For Gordon, a major objective will be to ensure it gets through without any injuries.

The Eagles regain Tye Murphy, Ben Schiltz, Billy Griffiths, Brendan Sutcliffe, Matt Raworth and Mathew Stokes in the first wave of players returning, and have also named Chevy Elliott.

Brad Horsham (shoulder), Luke Gunnell and Ethan Crackel go out.

Ballan gets back Jeda Stone, Ben Neumann and Jacob Panther, with coach Tristan Batten's main pre-game objective being to have a full complement of 22 players for the match after being short last round.

In a special day for Ballan, Jason Bongart - the father of senior players Harley, Ryan and Austin - will play his 300th game with the Blue in the reserves.

Batten will be among a group of long-time teammates lining up in the reserves to celebrate milestone.

With the start they had, who would have thought (other than the Buninyong faithful) that the Bombers would be where they are right now.

Buninyong should make it eight wins in a row.

The Bombers have just kept building and building - making the most of a fixture which pointed to wins late in the year.

They are also fielding a strengthened line-up with Luke Van Roy making his first appearance since round seven, Caius Barrenger, Harly Givvens, Will Porter and most important of all Williamstown VFL-listed Joel Ottavi all returning.

This will be Ottavi's third game for the club this season, qualifying him for finals.

Daylesford is among a group of teams, which while not at the point of bottoming out, is still some way of making a play for finals.

Getting a win over Newlyn was a good reward, but the Bulldogs are not in the same league at Buninyong.

Daylesford coach Hamish Jarrad will not play.

Hepburn will again flex its muscles.

The Burras have been in hot form, winning seven on end.

They have taken down the likes of Skipton and Springbank along the way, and in the last three rounds really cut loose.

They are the only combination to kick more than 1800 points for the season.

Creswick has not been too bad this season.

Four wins has it within one of 11th, but its low percentage does reflect how tough it has done it on occasions.

The Wickers will see plenty of positives for the season under coach Dean Romeril, but the last outing might be a tough one to take as Hepburn prepares for a qualifying final.

Hepburn is resting Ned Johns, with Nathan Rodgers returning.

Veteran Ryan Knowles has been named for his first senior appearance for Creswick this season.

Will Preston and Darcy Cowell are other inclusions, with Tim Landwehr missing.

Can Carngham-Linton have its first win of the season?

It has been another tough campaign for non-playing coach Clayton Scoble and his players.

The Saints have given up 100 points or more in 11 games.

Their closest finish was 12 points against Ballan in round eight.

Carngham-Linton last won in round 11 in 2019 - against Skipton.

Scoble's focus this season has been to find improvement in small increments.

Just keep chipping away.

Clunes is a good example for the Saints as to what the future can hold.

The Magpies won only one game in 2019 - one fewer than Carngham-Linton - claimed the wooden spoon.

It is a slow build, but Clunes is gradually working up the ladder.

The Magpies will defeat the Saints for their fifth win of the season.

They have not been too far away in quite a few others, but Clunes will go out of 2022 on a high.

Clunes will give under-18 player Nick Sardo his senior debut.

Carngham-Linton is without star Kynan Raven and Tom Sarah, but regains Jordan Hayes, Chrisa Morcombe and Wayne Bruty.

It is a slim chance, but Bungaree can still play finals.

Firstyl, the Demons need Learmonth to defeat Waubra and Beaufort to upset Rokewood-Corindhap if they are to be a possibility of snatching eighth position on percentage.

You would get big odds for that double.

Even if that happens, it will mean nothing if Bungaree cannot beat Skipton.

With an elimination final a week away, Skipton should be in finals mode and that will be too much for Bungaree.

Being potentially their last throw of the dice for the year, Bungaree will undoubtedly throw everything at it.

Coach Ryan Waight said in a rarity he had several players coming back.

"It might be too little too late, but it'll be good to be able to beef up the personnel."

Jaykeb Lench, Jackson Murphy, Alex Ross, Ambrose Gillett, Ben Willian, Michael Panther and Mason Currie are all inclusions, but there is no Dakin Morris and Tom Gough.

Skipton welcomes back joint coach Andrew Pitson and Matt Romeril.

Rokewood-Corindhap has been unable to hit the heights of last year.

Injuries have been an issue, but rivals have also taken the Grasshoppers much more seriously - making life much tougher.

So it comes down to this.

Rokewood-Corindhap is still in the running to play finals.

To do so it must win and Waubra lose to Learmonth.

This will have Grasshoppers on the same premiership points and with a better percentage - enough to get eighth.

It is never ideal when you have to rely on outside factors, but that is where Rokewood-Corindhap is though.

All the Grasshoppers can do is focus on the task at hand and defeat Beaufort.

Rokewood-Corindhap has defender Ash Gray returning, Ben Harris back for his first game since round eight, Sam Worden making his first appearance since round eight and Tyler Mookhoek also named.

The Crows have fallen away, with injuries taking a heavy toll.

They have lost 10 in a row.

Beaufort would like nothing better than to get one last win for Brendan Howard as he steps out of the joint coaching role and also to impact the top eight.

Last time there were finals Beaufort was part of them.

If the Crows could win this one, it would feel like a final.

Beaufort inclusions include ruckman Josh McDermott, Kennan McLinden, Lachlan Odde and Tom Flood.