The top two teams going head to head is a mouth-watering prospect in any competition, but in the BDAFLW the Marlins-Stars clash has been marked on the calendar for months.

It’s a chance to see some of the region’s biggest names and heaviest hitters lock horns at Dick Burwell Oval, and potentially a chance to see the last undefeated squad left in the league taste defeat in 2018.

Not every big name from the squads will be on show however, as Marlins coach Russell Fox reveals Nelson Bay’s physio room is approaching max capacity – Marlins strike weapon Kaitlyn Douglass was a casualty of the rep challenge just last weekend.

Douglass’ injury comes just weeks after club leading goalscorer Jesse Jakubowski was felled for the rest of the year, and with impact player Eliza Smyth also unavailable, Fox admits the team may have to “return to the basics” as finals approach.

“We still have a decent core of plays [despite injuries], there’s no doubt about that, it just may mean we look to return to basics in the next few weeks,” Fox said.

“The club potentially has two first game players coming through, so we’ll see what they give us and they could be very good. It’s just going to be a ‘wait and see’, it’s a hard game to learn in just three weeks.”

Fox pointed to club captain Sophie Balcomb as an expected focal point of the team, and praised her “massive efforts” across much of the season thus far.

“Our captain Sophie Balcombe has been fantastic for us all year, and she will be key come Saturday,” Fox said. “There’s also a number of defensive players … Kate Holland, Hayley West and Madeline Norton in particular. I know they’ll stand up when we come up against the Stars.”

“[Without Douglass and Jakubowski] I have been tossing up whether we keep onward with how we have been playing, or if we look to play more from out of the back. That’s going to be something that training will decide, and we’ll be prepared by the weekend.”

In comparison, Stars coach Shaun O’Leary revealed the Newcastle squad fronting up at Dick Burwell Oval would be at “full strength”, after the representative break “has done a few of our players a world of good”.

Outside of long term injuries Rosie Ronan-Yates and Paige Mathewson (ACLs), the Stars would have access to their strongest line-up – a playing group that includes team topscorer Sarah Halvorsen, who has scored 35 goals so far this season, and Ashlee Hayllar (25 goals).

O’Leary also confirmed Tayla Braithwaite would take to the field, after an injury concern from the Newcastle-Central Coast clash last Saturday had put question marks around her availability.

Elsewhere on the weekend, another top five clash will take place at Adelaide St Oval, as Killarney Vale seek to bounce back from their defeat at the competition’s Tulkaba Park carnival of football by knocking-off fellow top four rivals the Newcastle City Novas.

It’s also a chance for Wyong Lakes to capitalise on their position in third place, as the Magpies take on cellar dwellers Wallsend-West Newcastle, while Maitland will face a tough battle against Cardiff at Max McMahon Oval.

Fellow top seven hopefuls Gosford and Singleton come face to face at Rose Point Park, and with both teams sitting on 28 points but only one in the top seven at the moment, it’s a vital four points for the Tigers and the Roosters. Similarly for Warners Bay – also level on 28 points – as they face The Entrance Bateau Bay and look to keep in the race for finals footy.

Finally, Lake Macquarie will return to Tulkaba Park sans the other fourteen teams in the competition this week, when they welcome Muswellbrook to their home turf, while Port Stephens will travel south to face Terrigal Avoca at Hylton Moore Oval.