Ballarat, Redan, Bacchus Marsh, Sebastopol. Four clubs which seem to be vying for one position in the finals.
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One thing that was certain, one of those teams needed a scalp on their way to September.
And it's Ballarat that's put it name forward as the most likely combatant, picking up that very scalp with an important win over the high-flying Sunbury.
The Swans set-up the victory in the third quarter with a five-goal-to-one term after the first half was essentially a nil-all draw.
But as could be expected, Sunbury fought back hard in the last, reducing the margin to under two goals at the 24 minute mark, but Ballarat would steady with the last two goals of the game to run out 22-point winners, 10.11 (71) to 7.7 (49).
The victory, coupled with big losses to both Redan and Bacchus Marsh, and the fact Sebastopol had the bye, meant the Swans moved a game clear, and importantly 10 per cent clear of Redan in sixth spot.
For Swans coach Chris Maple, it was the culmination of weeks of hard work, which he said would give his side a huge boost in confidence heading into the last few weeks of the season.
"I think it will be great for them," he said. "Sunbury has been playing some excellent footy, so it's important for our boys to have a win like that.
"I know there's been a couple of people have written there is a question mark on us, and to be honest, that's been earned, we're not quite doing what we should occasionally.
"But it was a pretty good effort today, there were a couple of boys who put their hand up late on Thursday and got up, they weren't 100 per cent, but they did well, which was even better. It was a good result."
The Swans win was the worst possible result for Redan, who weren't able to go the distance with Melton.
In slippery, but still conditions, Melton controlled the contest early, but still only held a two-goal lead at the main break.
But for the second week in a row it was key forward Ryan Carter that stood up when it mattered in the third term. Two set-shot goals gave the Bloods the edge as they eventually ran away with the contest 14.8 (92) to 4.1 (25).
Melton coach Troy Scoble said he was pleased with the way his team had handled the conditions.
"I know there's a school of thought out there that in conditions like that you go a bit smaller, but for us, we are content with the system we have put in play, it was great to see the talls have such an influence," he said.
"What I find is the talls become a bit of a beacon as to where you need to get to, and then you can work around that. They gave us the target, the work rate was really strong.
"It's been a big two weeks for us. The week off has come at the right time for us, I'm really proud of the way the group has stuck together and really supported each other. This week will be extremely challenging, so to get the result was great."
While Redan at least held on for a half, the same couldn't be said for Bacchus Marsh which was obliterated by East Point.
The Cobras were held goalless in the first half and would go down 23.17 (155) to 3.6 (24).
They seem to be another team in desperate need of a reset after disappointing performances over the past fortnight. The likely returns of bigs Luke Goetz and Andrejs Evereitt after the bye should at least straigten them up, but there's a lot of work ahead.
For East Point though, it's nine on the trot and they, along with Melton, loom as the most likely premiership pick at this stage.
Kangaroos coach Joe Carmody was thrilled with his team performance.
"I know Bacchus Marsh had a young team in, but it was a good, comprehensive performance from us," he said.
"We know it's a tight competition, we've got to be at our best each week. The consistency has been the thing for us. For a young team to know that we are going to compete week-in, week-out has been pleasing."
The smokey in the premiership race looks to be Darley who eventually got the job done over Lake Wendouree despite a huge case of the yips in front of goal.
At one stage the Devils were on 3.17, then at three-quarter-time sat on 6.20. But the radar was lined up in the last quarter, eventually winning 14.23 (107) to 5.7 (37).
Darley coach Dan Jordan said despite the inaccuracy, he thought it was the best his team had played in a number of weeks.
"I thought 90 to 95 per cent of the game was really good, while we missed some set shots, I thought it was more our entry method inside 50 that was poor," he said. "We just made some silly decisions inside 50. But generally in my experience, that's the hardest thing to get right, it's the last piece of the puzzle and we can certainly tidy that up."
As expected North Ballarat got the job done against Melton South by 101 points. It was far from the cleanest performance from the Roosters, but the eight-goal first quarter set the game up and they never looked threatened after that.
