LIKE the proverbial man pushing the wheelbarrow, Drouin will have the job in front of it this week when it treks to Maffra.

There is little debate that Maffra will enter clear favourites.

The Eagles dismissed any talks it was spent force in round seven when it rolled Sale in a replay of last season’s grand final.

With the return of Nick Horsford to the senior line-up and the return to the club of Ashley Gallagher from Sale City, the 2006 premiers have strengthened their forward line over the past two weeks since losing to Garfield.

Drouin will lose Scott Masterson (knee) and tough utility Chris Wallace has left the country to take up a job with the United Nations in Nepal.

There is a lot to like about Drouin ruckman Bob McCallum and midfielders, Dan Barrand, Todd Cook, Sam Proctor and Jordan Edwards, but the Hawks appear to be lacking strength and evenness over the rest of the field.

Maffra’s team is a lot more inexperienced this year and if it is to feature in this season’s grand final then many of its youngsters may care to follow in the steps of Sam Walker and Dave Adams who have been two young ones to step up in recent weeks.

Maffra had the luxury of spelling coach Hayden Burgiel and the classy centreman is almost certain to return this week.

Drouin has been involved in nailbiters in rounds seven (versus Traralgon) and eight (versus Moe), but has struggled to match it against the best and this tells us Maffra should chalk up a handsome victory.

Warragul v Leongatha

WARRAGUL will be keen to make amends for its bad loss to Sale in round eight and is likely to take out its revenge on its visitors this week LEONGATHA.

The Gulls will be bolstered by three top additions, Ross Glover, Nick Edney and Rob Murphy that should see the Warragul midfield at close to top strength, excepting John Reid, who is sidelined for the entire season after breaking his collarbone in round four against Maffra.

Leongatha has mixed its form, but when it does play at its best, it has shown a vast improvement on last season’s mediocre form.

Both teams appear to match up well, struggling for goal scorers and with an over reliance on its midfielders.

The Parrots have some very handy runners, Tim Fitzpatrick, Marc Truscio, Mark Hardy and Caine Salmon that will make Warragul work hard, but my guess is the home side should prevail by around six goals.

Morwell v Sale

MORWELL has stepped up this season - but by how much?

WGLFL fans should find out this week when it hosts the premiership favourites, SALE.

Last match, Morwell produced a performance of some merit against Garfield and if not for a few concentration lapses, could have come away with the points.

The Tigers have shown a liking for a physical brand of football, so the Magpies will know they are in a game.

Fresh from the break, both should enter the game at close to full strength.

The Magpies have missed Nick Fowler (broken finger) in recent weeks, however youngster Daniel McLinden has come into the team and been more than serviceable at centre half-forward.

Fired up after its upset loss to Maffra, Sale made light work of Warragul and on the back of that stunning effort should have enough ammunition to achieve victory, but an upset would not surprise.

Patrons are guaranteed to see a great match.

Moe v Traralgon

The spotlight will once again be on the underperforming TRARALGON when it travels to MOE.

After a horror start that has seen them winless with seven consecutive losses, it’s hard to make a case for the Maroons, other than say they have been very competitive for long spells.

Big interest sits with the composition of the Maroons line-up from here on.

Will they stick with the majority of players that have let them down or will they take a bold step and promote many faces from their undefeated seconds, many of whom must be crying out for a senior game.

Not one Traralgon player has kicked more than 10 goals this season, its best is Michael Geary with eight, which tells the story that the Maroons simply lack the scoring potency.

Moe has not been much better in the goal-scoring department, but encouragingly key forwards Jason Shields and Cam Harwood have found a bit touch in recent weeks.

However it will badly miss assistant coach Adam Kennedy (dislocated collarbone).

Traralgon is too good a side to keep losing and with a two-week break (it had a bye in round eight), it should be fully fit and recharged.

This is a huge match for the Maroons and for that reason I’ll tip them to get over the line by a small margin.

If they lose, it’s hard to see them getting any match points for a number of weeks because, in order, their upcoming games are Maffra, Warragul, Morwell, Garfield and Sale, the top-five sides.

Selections with likely winners in capitals: Moe v TRARALGON, MAFFRA v Drouin, WARRAGUL v Leongatha, Morwell v SALE, Garfield Bye.