COLBINABBIN has continued its impressive rise up the HDFNL ladder, climbing to second after powering past Elmore 63-53 for its seventh-straight win on Saturday.
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But the Grasshoppers' stay might be shortlived with a clash against undefeated White Hills scheduled next Saturday.
It will be a rematch of last year's grand final, won by the Demons by 11 goals.
The odds of Colbinabbin and White Hills meeting in a top-two clash in round 13 would have been considered either long or remote when they last met in round four.
A narrow two-goal loss on that occasion sent the Grasshoppers spiralling to 1-3.
They have not lost a game since.
The most impressive feature of their current seven-game winning streak is that their last three wins have come against potential finals match-ups.
In the last month, Colbinabbin has beaten Heathcote by 43 goals, Leithchville by eight and Elmore by 10.
The Grasshoppers have averaged 67.6 goals throughout that time, which should pose plenty of problems even for White Hills' strong defence.
The foundation for a crucial win over the Bloods in miserable conditions at Colbinabbin was laid in the opening term.
With young guns Matilda McIntyre and Ella Kerlin sharing the load in the goal circle, the Grasshoppers led 19-10 at quarter time.
As good teams do, the Bloods lifted in the second to reduce the margin to seven goals, with Gabe Richards particularly prominent at goal shooter with 12 goals.
But any hope of a further resurgence was stopped in its tracks when the Grasshoppers produced a brilliant 19-3 third quarter to push the margin out to 12 goals, en-route to a 10-goal win.
Grasshoppers coach Jen McIntyre hailed the win as 'crucial', with three teams, including Leitchville-Gunbower, which also leapfrogged the Bloods into third following a 20-goal win over Lockington-Bamawm United, all now locked on eight wins.
"It was a great first quarter that set it up," she said.
"I wasn't very happy with the second. I'm pretty sure it was five-zip before we scored, despite emphasising at quarter time how quickly we know they can score.
"Credit to Elmore, they came back hard, but fortunately we were able to push it back out.
"You have to be happy with a 10-goal win, especially in that shocking weather.
"It's a rough few weeks with Heathcote, Leitchville, Elmore and White Hills, but we've made a good start to it."
With players spread across central Victoria and Melbourne, making training together difficult, McIntyre hailed the Grasshoppers' first official session together last Thursday night as perhaps a key to the win.
"They do train individually and play other netball during the week, but it was nice to have all the girls there together," she said.
The win was propelled by big performances by goal keeper Elle Palmer, teenage midcourter Grace McIntyre and goal shooter Matilda McIntyre (40 goals).
An area of concern for coach McIntyre continues to be the lapses in concentration that sometimes creep into their game, most notably in the second quarter on Saturday.
Elmore was without goal attack Abbey Hromenko, who will be a key should the Grasshoppers and Bloods meet again in finals.
Colbinabbin's clash with White Hills won't be the only game with massive implications on the top three next week, with a rebounding Elmore set to host Leitchville-Gunbower.
The Bloods defeated the Bombers 70-57 earlier in the season.
Heathcote assured its second-straight finals appearance with a 41-31 win over Mount Pleasant at Barrack Reserve.
The Blues finished 10 goals closer to the Saints than they did in their round one encounter at Toolleen.
Heathcote's sixth win of the season put them four wins and considerable percentage ahead of next week's rival North Bendigo, Mount Pleasant and LBU, all on two wins.
At Scott Street, White Hills continued its unbeaten run with a 63-18 victory over Huntly.
