Echuca regained top spot when it accounted for Mansfield last Saturday and has a date with Tatura this Saturday to prepare for its showdown blockbuster with Kyabram at Echuca on Saturday week.
The Paul Newman-coached Bombers have not lost a game since the second round when beaten by Echuca by 21 points.
But Newman is not looking beyond this Saturday at the moment, pointing out his team had to fight hard to shake off Rochester in the opening round of the season.
‘‘The were ahead of us at half-time and we had to really dig deep to get over them, so you know they will have a red-hot go,“ he said.
‘‘This is the game we play for the Mick Pettifer memorial trophy and with his son Kayne still playing with us and ready to return after missing our last game, it will add a lot more interest to this game.’’
Newman said utility star and fly-in player Rhys Clarke will miss this week along with another key onballer Zac Keogh, but he expects both to play against Echuca.
‘‘We are managing Zac at the moment and trying to have him at his best for the finals,’’ Newman said.
Keogh has played only three games due to a persistent knee injury.
• Rochester is back on the winners’ list after six successive defeats, a midweek recruiting coup one key component of the Tigers lifting themselves off the bottom rung of the Gouburn Valley League ladder.
An 11-point win against ninth-ranked Shepparton Swans has resulted in the Tigers moving from the bottom of the 12-team ladder to 10th and, after a meeting with second-ranked Kyabram this weekend, there is further light on the horizon.
The Tigers face Shepparton (seventh, four wins for the season), Tatura (eighth, three wins) and Benalla (bottom, two wins) in the three weeks after the Indigenous round match with Kyabram.
Rochester kicked nine goals in the final half on Saturday after failing to score in the second quarter and was still down by seven points at the final change. Four goals to one in the final term allowed the Tigers to secure the 11-point win, 12.11 (83) to Shepparton Swans’ 10.12 (72).
Rochester officials completed a recruiting coup during the week when it secured the services of Elmore captain Dylan Gordon, but his release from the Heathcote league club did not come without complications.
Gordon, who is the brother-in-law of star Rochester forward-cum ruckman Mitch Cricelli, will play the rest of the season with the Tigers.
He signalled his intention to join the Tigers three weeks ago, before the Shepparton United match, but the initial approach was refused.
Interaction between the clubs was high during the pre-season when former Tigers ruckman Daniel Russell and goal-kicking midfielder Nathan Kay crossed to the neighbouring Heathcote league club.
Gordon is a key defender who has played in the West Australian Football League, the VFL with Frankston and Casey Demons, in the Northern Territory Football League with Palmerston and Noble Park in the strong Eastern Football League.
He finished the match with only 11 disposals, well down on his output of the past month, but importantly kicked two goals in the Tigers’ third quarter charge and a third in the final term.
In the last quarter, Gordon had 12 hit-outs, two of his five inside 50s and also two rebound 50s (in a total of six for the match). He finished with 19 disposals and five tackles alongside his final quarter ruck exploits.
Gordon’s arrival comes with further good news that experienced Tiger Andy Henderson is only weeks away from his return from more than 12 months on the sidelines.
Rochester will also unveil ruckman Lachy Watson in the coming weeks. He has been playing in Queensland and once cleared from concussion protocols will join the Tigers.
