It’s not outside the realms of possibility last year’s semi-finalists could be the team to pip the undefeated defending champions, but as injuries and absences amount up for Traci Baber’s outfit it may take something out of the box to achieve.

‘Out of the box’ is a perfect way to describe Forsythes’ lineup this weekend too, with shooter Sabina Gomboso (absent), keeper Keeley Mullins (absent) and wing attack Anna Atkinson (knee) all missing for the Saturday clash.

“That leaves us at eight for the weekend, but I know that the eight that we have are going to play their best, potentially even more because they know we’re short,” Baber said.

Baber revealed Angela Williams – who regularly plays as part of the defensive unit – will take shooting responsibilities to replacing Gomboso.

“Angela is fit to play again so she’ll be stepping into that role, which will be a great challenge for her,” she said. “She had a run-out at shooter last weekend in expectation for this change so she’s had a bit of preparation.”

“She’ll be joined in the circle by Bronte Magin, who we’ll be looking to step up her shooting responsibilities a bit considering she’s our starting goal attack normally. She will have a strong idea of how to help our offensive movements.”

Last time the two clubs came face to face, Wests came out on top with a 12 goal margin after a late surge saw them take control, and Baber explained she wants to keep their margin “close” this time around.

To do that, the club must “step up as one” she said, and pointed at their defensive combo in Natasha Robards and Veronica Smith as two key players in the match, as well as captain and mid-court general Karlie Robards.

Forsythes’ head coach also became the second in recent weeks to take a swipe at the substitution rule implemented for the Open Championship in the last two years.

“It’s not a major deal for us, but the rule definitely makes it hard on independent teams,” she said.

“My second Forsythes team is playing at the same time as us and so that means that if I took a shooter from them they would be short on players and I would be forced to bench starting players for my top side that would be playing otherwise.

“It impacts both my teams if I want to bring up a specialised shooter, and that makes it very hard.”

Also on Saturday afternoon, Nova Thunder (26 points) will play West Leagues Balance 2 (20), with the fifth placed hoping to take advantage of any late-season slip-ups from the top four squads.

Souths Lions (32) will face Maryville Tavern (22) in the late time-slot at National Park, while BNC Whanau (30) take on last placed Souths Pride (17).