Fitzpatrick, Jacobs have their say on Pyramid Hill and Marong rivalry

Marong hasn't lost a game since Pyramid Hill defeated the Panthers in round four of the 2022 season.

Since then the two sides have met seven times, with Marong winning all seven encounters by an average margin of 45 points.

However, that average margin has dropped significantly over the past three clashes.

The Bulldogs got within 24 points and 16 points in last year's finals series and in round three this year the deficit was just eight points.

While a breakthrough win over Marong would do wonders to the Bulldogs mentally ahead of a potential finals clash with the Panthers, Pyramid Hill coach Nathan Fitzpatrick preferred to focus on the bigger picture.

"We need to win games to make sure we finish in the top three, so that's our goal at the moment,'' Fitzpatrick said.

"We also understand that it's July and we want to try and make sure we have as close to a full side as we can in a couple of months' time.

"We have some confidence that if we execute what we want to then we can win, but it's not going to define our season."

Fitzpatrick said the Bulldogs had learned from previous mistakes against Marong.

"Every time we've played them we've learned a few things about how we need to play and also what we need to do better in terms of stopping how they want to play,'' Fitzpatrick said.

"They set up very well and they move the footy very well, so there's elements of us needing to be at our best and also us needing to take away some of their strengths."

One of Marong's greatest strengths is its structure behind the ball.

One of the key bricks in the Marong wall - Richard Tibbett - won't play in Saturday's game.

"He's hurt his calf, so he'll probably be out for another week or so,'' Marong coach Linton Jacobs said of Tibbett.

"He felt alright at training, but we just didn't want to take the risk when there's so much footy still to be played.

"We have some flexibility with our talls. Matt Riordan played in defence last week and Matt Willox is back in this week as well.

"The way we like to set up won't change too much in terms of structure and the guys know how to play their role.

"Tibby is such an important player for us, but we think we have the tools to cover him."

Jacobs said games against Pyramid Hill tended to bring the best out of his playing group.

"Our guys respect them and love playing footy against them,'' Jacobs said.

"We've created a healthy rivalry with them over the past couple of years and I know our boys get up for the challenge every time we play them.

"It's a big task to go up there (Pyramid Hill) and win, but we have played well at their ground the last couple of years.

"Potentially, they look they're better than they were last year, so we'll need to be at our best."

Pyramid Hill regains reigning league best and fairest winner Dylan Collis for his first game since round five.

Collis and Brodie Carroll, who are both based in Darwin, have only played five games between them for the Dogs this year.

"Dylan hasn't played for a few weeks because it's the Darwin off-season, so he's not going to play every game,'' Fitzpatrick said.

"We like to get him in the side as often as we can. (Carroll) is overseas at the moment. He still has a couple of games left to play (to qualify for finals) and he'll knock them off in the last few games of the year."