THURGOONA coach Brett Doswell admits the undefeated Bulldogs are highly anticipating Saturday's clash against Kiewa-Sandy Creek.
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The two clubs have forged a fierce rivalry in recent seasons and have played off in the past two deciders with the ledger square.
The Hawks started the season as flag favourites but haven't been as dominant as previous years to sit fourth with a 7-3-1 record.
In contrast the Bulldogs have rocketed in raging flag favourites after reeling off 11 consecutive wins.
The Bulldogs have hardly raised a sweat in the past five rounds after notching big wins against the lesser lights of the competition.
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Doswell said he was looking forward to Saturday's match to get the competitive juices flowing again.
"When you play some of the bottom sides it's easy to fall into the trap of getting a false sense of how you are travelling," Doswell said.
"So we are looking forward to the next month to get a gauge of where we are at.
"You always look forward to playing against the better sides in the competition.
"Obviously Kiewa are the defending premiers and we are looking forward to the challenge."
Doswell conceded the Hawks looked to be below their best form at the minute but still had plenty of respect for the defending premier.
"We definitely haven't written them off as contenders," he said.
"I don't know a heap about Kiewa because this is my first year at Thurgoona.
"But we are expecting Kiewa to play a lot different footy compared to the first round when we played them."
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