The improving Devils host Ballarat in what looks like the match of the round. Even the numbers endorse the billing. The similarities between the two clubs, six rounds in, suggest we could be in for a close one.

Both sides have been slow starters, winning just one opening term for the year but sharing a strong finish with 5/6 fourth-quarter wins. Again, both average 73 points against per game (comp avg #3 and #4 defensively) and match in the front half averaging 23 shots on goal per game.

If not for Ballarat's inefficiency in front of goal (comp rank #11), they could be higher than their 6th place on the ladder suggests (Darley’s in 2nd). But that's where we pull it up - the ladder can be misleading as to where you are six rounds in. In fairness to the Swans, illness, injury, and unavailability proved to be the catalyst behind the club's disappointing 95-point loss to Melton, while the Devils are yet to play North Ballarat and East Point, two heavyweights of this year's competition.

So, this match looms as a genuine test for both sides. Can the young Devils hold off a bigger-bodied (to the eye) maturing Swans outfit touted as a flag contender? I'm sure the Devils will be all-in ahead of their bye in round eight, a much-deserved break. Getting it done at home won't be easy in the absence of Matty Brett and Darren Leonard (doubtful) - however, belief in the group is on the rise. Their loss can be squared away if you like, given the Swans will be without Marcus Powling (hamstring) and Bailey Van De Heuvel (VFL more likely).

Ballarat will hold no fears despite having one win in their last 10 games involving highway travel (comp rank #10). They are a different side now, enhancing organic growth not dissimilar to Melton - but aren't quite there yet. A win today will add weight to validating the Swans' progress and help release that monkey off their back in the 'East'. For Darley, the thought of a 5-2 start into the bye will have surpassed all expectations. It will be a huge game.

One good thing about heading up the highway for a meeting with league heavyweights East Point is that it gives you an extra 40 minutes in the car to theorise on how to best contain in-form x-factor forward Jordy Johnston. Johnston has bags of eight and six-goal returns in his last two weeks. Call it coincidence, call it what you like but the winning margin for the Kangas in their last two successes has near equated to the contribution of JJ's boot alone. Say no more - Cobras consider it memo 101!

The potent Kangas front half has registered 100+ points in three of their last four games and any resemblance on that tomorrow will likely tell us the Cobras have come up short. On the flip side, if the visitors can contain the highly potent Kangas, they will give themselves a chance. For all of East Point's ability to hit the scoreboard (98.8 points per game comp rank #2), they can be a leaky vessel of their own at times, conceding 84 points per game on average (comp rank #9 in defence). The Cobras' Jake Owen (13 goals - 3,3,2,2,3) and Rex Hickman (9 goals - 0,2,2,1,4) will need multiples in the 4-5 range to pinch this result if the visitors are to be denied a repeat stoppage, low scoring affair.

The midfield battle rings alarm bells for the Cobras as well. I'm not sure they have the group to match or contain Matty Johnston, Joe Dodd, Mickitja Rotumah-Onus and marquee signing Jackson Merrett. Ruckman Thomas Brown will be an awkward matchup for Daniel Burton with his vertical leap alone.

The scoreboard will go a long way in telling us who got off the hook. 

Lakers coach Jack Fitzpatrick will be looking for a spirited response from his boys when they host ladder leaders Melton. An upset win at home against the undefeated Bloods appears unlikely as Lakers fans brace for a fifth straight loss in what is shaping as a tough season for the club. It's how they minimise the damage on the back of a lacklustre performance against Sunbury that has my interest. In fairness, the Lakers are young, relatively inexperienced, and clearly three or four quality players shy of genuinely matching the better sides.

This weekend looms as the perfect example. The Bloods are a well-drilled group, entering their fifth season on the bounce in Premiership contention and have taken no prisoners so far in 2022. They have beaten Melton South (80pts), Sunbury (40pts), Bacchus Marsh (28pts), Darley (30pts), Ballarat (95pts) and North Ballarat (68pts). I know Fitzpatrick will do everything he can to upset the Bloods' run but getting within seven goals will be a task in itself.

Bloods leading forward Ryan Carter (23 goals) has proven a handful all season with multiple returns in all six games (5,4,3,2,4,5), averaging 9-10 shots on goal each week. Braeden Kight (3,1,0,2,3,5) has 14 goals in '22, kept goalless only by Bacchus Marsh, and is capable of going big again.

Externally it appears to be a case of how far in favour of the Bloods, so with tempered expectations on their winning chances, we ask the Lakers simply to have a crack.

Sebastopol returns after the bye for their first hitout away from Ballarat this season when they meet a confidence-building Melton South who've won two of their last three games.

The 'Burra will hope the pattern off the bye in '22 (LWLWL) continues for another week because they're going to be made to earn the four points. It's old news that the visitors have had their fair share of bad luck with injuries to quality players but their most recent win over North Ballarat in round five would have refuelled any self-doubts among the group.

The Panthers have some weapons of their own. Midfielder and captain Shaun Wyatt is a gun, his distribution and ability to keep his feet in traffic are impressive. Young Mitch Fino is the next generation Wyatt, sharing very similar traits while the form of Dylan Jones, Cody Chapman, the Thornton-Gielen brothers and the likely return of Dylan Conway, must give them a shot.

How Panthers coach Heath Pritchard can get his boys up again this week to bring the pressure will be his greatest challenge because, without it, they're a shadow of their best. They brought the pressure against Sunbury (tick) and got it done again against Bacchus Marsh last week. Good sides stand up to the challenge that is out there.

The 'Burra - despite their horror run with injury - bat pretty deep and have proven they can kick a winning score and, more importantly, deliver the pressure that was significant in their 35 point win over North Ballarat. Tony Lockyer and James Keeble are flying and loom as the Panthers' greatest threat in winning their first home game in '22, but more importantly a third win in four weeks.      

There's a bit to play out here.      

Ironically Sunbury is 1-4, the same as they were in 2021. Surely it's a wry smile at best out of the Lions camp who would be disappointed with their start to the season. They have the perfect opportunity to make it back-to-back wins when they host Redan, still reeling from three successive losses at home. Redan coach Jarrett Giampaolo had every reason to vent his frustration citing poor ball use and inaccurate kicking for goal as major factors in his club's three-game losing streak.   

For what it's worth, Redan has had the edge over Sunbury in their last two hit-outs by 21 and 20 points, but this weekend brings a change in the narrative being played at Clarke Oval. It flips the likely outcome on its head - I've no doubt that under the pump Sunbury start as favourites. Travis Hodgson's Lions must win at least two of their next three games against Redan, Sebastopol and Bacchus Marsh to keep their finals hopes alive.

Needless to suggest that finals will be the furthest thing from these two coaches' minds as they go head to head. Both are desperate for their second win of the season. The year will be made harder for the loser.

While Sunbury isn't the force they once were at home with just four wins from their last seven games at Clarke Oval, I'm firm in the belief some learnings out of the Melton South and Darley losses will hold them in good stead. Hodgson's boys had 30 shots on goal last week to get the job done against the Lakers. But how that stacks up against Giampaolo's Redan, time will tell.

Should be a good stoppage game, both sides are good in close - who gets the first crack on the outside and uses the ball more effectively wins. Simple.