BRUCK veteran Mark Higgs knows the equation is simple for his side — keep winning or miss finals.
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The WDCA powerhouse, which won three consecutive flags from 2008-11, faced the real possibility of missing the finals for the first time since 2006-07.
Bruck is sixth and faces fourth-placed Corowa, bottom-placed Greta and fifth-placed Myrtleford in its last three regular-season games.
The club’s revival started last round with a crucial win away to City Colts and Higgs hopes it can continue in the two-dayer against the Roos at Ball Park, starting today.
“We really need to win the next three to get in,” the 41-year-old said.
“It’s really up to us.
“If we beat those sides around us we’ll get in.”
Interestingly, Corowa, Myrtleford, Bruck and seventh-placed City Colts all have tough assignments to finish the season, meaning the make up of the finals is likely to go down to the wire.
Rutherglen, reigning premier Yarrawonga-Mulwala and Beechworth look set to finish in the top three, while the finals hopes appear over for Whorouly-Gapsted, Wangaratta Magpies, Rovers United and Greta.
Higgs said the competition was as close as he had seen.
“It’s all pretty even at the moment,” said the all-rounder, who has taken eight wickets and averaged 32 with the bat.
“It’s been an up and down year for us.
“The games we’ve lost have usually been one-dayers.”
Bruck was set to be at full strength today, with veteran batsman Andrew Balfour available for selection.
But Balfour faced a tough task forcing his way into a side that had plenty of batsman in form, including Jordan Blades, Ryan Cobain and Jon Hyde.
Higgs was expecting a hard-fought game against Corowa, which was coming off a 169-run home win against Rovers United.
“We’ve got to beat Corowa and put a bit more pressure on the top four,” he said.
“Every game is a must-win from now on.”