Having enjoyed the benefit of a week off, both teams will be rested and ready to attack the beginning of their finals campaigns, with the carrot of a grand final berth set to make this an epic battle from start to finish.
Perched atop the ladder for the majority of the home and away season, Cobram has shown signs of vulnerability in the past couple of months, with its three losses coming in the second half of the year.
Mulwala on the other hand looks to be peaking at the right time, with five straight wins having it secure a spot in the top two and come into this finals series as a genuine dark horse.
With so much on the line, Tigers coach John Brunskill said his team was excited about the challenge.
“For us the lead up has been the same as any other week to be honest,” Brunskill said.
“We will go up to Finley, try to keep to our structures and plans and see how we go, we know Mulwala will present a massive challenge.
“Everyone at the club is just super excited to get the finals under way, a lot of our boys have played finals together in juniors and are now itching to get the chance on the senior stage.”
The Tigers were far too good when the two teams faced each other last in round 11, winning by a whopping 72 points on their Scott Oval home deck.
But with the Lions missing some key personnel and Cobram at its absolute peak in that clash, Brunskill said he expected a much closer contest this time around with the intensity set to be dialled up to the extreme.
“They (Mulwala) have obviously improved since then, so we won’t read too much into that result,” he said.
“We know they are very good side, they probably have the best on-ball brigade in the league who will do some serious damage and have blokes up forward that kick big bags of goals.
“So we will have to be at our absolute best to beat them on Saturday and cannot wait for the challenge.”
As for how his team is tracking leading into the finals, Brunskill said he was confident it could find its best footy this weekend with a few important players set to return.
“We aren’t going too bad, through the second half of the year we’ve had eight or nine out most weeks, so with a few boys coming back after the week off we’ll be in good stead come Saturday,” he said.
“I think we definitely turned a corner in the second half against Deniliquin, we got our game style going which gives us a fair bit of confidence.
“This week we’ll get Ben Ryan, Sam Gemmil, Mark Baker along with a couple of others back which will only make us stronger.”
On Sunday afternoon a rampant Tongala will be looking to continue its finals charge against a spirited Moama.
Both coming victories in their elimination finals last week, the Blues handed out a 78-point hiding to Deniliquin on their home deck, while the Magpies triumphed by four points in a thriller against Congupna at Memorial Park.
Coming into this match a significant underdog, Moama coach Sam Sheldon said his team was brimming with confidence and ready for the challenge.
“It was a great win last week (against Congupna), we hadn’t beaten them all year and it was good to get it done and it gives us great confidence going into this week because we haven’t beaten Tonny either,” Sheldon said.
“We have a lot of young boys in our side and it was a great effort from them against Congupna, we had a plan and we executed and I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.
“Tongala are a good side who had a pretty easy game against Deni, so they will be cherry ripe for this weekend, which presents a great challenge for our group.”
The Magpies were brave in their most recent clash with the Blues, falling by one point in a thriller in round 15.
But Sheldon said he expected to be greeted with a much stronger Tongala outfit this weekend.
“They are a bit of a different side from that game, but we take a bit of confidence out of that one,” he said.
“We know our best footy can match it with them, the challenge will be sustaining that for the whole day.”
Semi-final fixture
First semi-final, Finley Recreation Reserve, Saturday
Seniors: Cobram v Mulwala (2pm)
A-grade: Deniliquin Rams v Rumbalara (1.30pm)
Second semi-final, Hardinge Street Oval (Mulwala), Sunday
Seniors: Tongala v Moama (2pm)
A-grade: Nathalia v Moama (1.30pm)
