Two sides sit on the precipice of the competition’s top four, as the 6-2 Cats host the 5-4 Magpies.
One side comes in much fresher than the other after Euroa withstood a late Seymour rally to hang on by 10 points on its home deck while Mooroopna enjoyed its second bye in the past three rounds.
To date, though, some strengths and deficiencies have made themselves known in the numbers.
Cats and Pies to go hammer and tong - averages a game
Contested possessions: 135.3 (seventh) - 140.2 (sixth)
Handballs: 162.3 (first) - 144.4 (second)
Contested marks: 14.5 (fourth) - 11.9 (11th)
Clearances: 41.5 (second) - 35.9 (eighth)
Tackles: 62.9 (second) - 51.7 (12th)
Two weeks ago in the Magpies’ clash with Mansfield, Ryan Pendlebury’s men convincingly won out in the contested stocks as well as inside 50s, despite ultimately losing the game by 35 points.
What certainly didn’t help was being out-tackled — particularly in defensive 50, where Euroa’s tackling output was more than doubled — and comprehensively outmarked 126-79 on the day.
Neither of those statistical setbacks are likely to let up on Saturday, either.
Mooroopna is a highly prolific marking side, one of five in the league averaging more than 100 a game; by contrast, Euroa sits 11th with 24 fewer grabs than the Cats per outing.
To that point, the John Lamont-coached outfit leads all comers in average tackles inside defensive 50, while the Magpies again languish in 10th.
However, if this is all looking a bit one-sided, there’s better news to come for Euroa supporters.
As we’ve seen on five occasions already this season, a spoonful of Will Hayes helps the medicine go down.
Euroa’s greatest assets have been within its individual stars, with the likes of Hayes — who was spotlighted as round nine’s king for a week — averaging a fearsome 127.5 ranking points even with a quarter of the Seymour game unknown.
Recruit Michael Barnes has shown more than his share of willingness to put some skin in the game, sitting in the league’s top dozen for average total ground ball gets and contested possessions.
Andrew Bell may be something of an unsung hero given the names he often contends with for air time, but no Magpie averages a better rate of centre clearances or midfield tackles than he.
This makes Bell a vital cog in any effort to shut down prolific Cats like Coby McCarthy, who epitomises Mooroopna’s handball-happy style that feeds the ball out towards big-marking threats like 33-goal forward Daniel Johnston.
It’s a case of Euroa attempting to use the coalface to outmuscle a Mooroopna outfit that’s happy to run and gun towards its aerially potent attack if necessary, and the results should not only be fascinating, but crucial in the race for finals.
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