The Fortescue Premier Grade competition is set for more twists and turns in another round of intriguing match-ups this weekend.
Premiership favourites Palmyra held onto first place with their 44-19 win over Associates in the last round and remain three points clear of UWA who had a 16-point win over Kalamunda.
But below the top two things get really interesting.
Associates' loss allowed Wests Scarborough to jump them into fourth after their 45-33 win at Southern Lions but only on a better for-and-against percentage.
Of the top seven sides UWA and Cottesloe have already played an extra game.
Third-placed Cottesloe have a bye giving Wests and Associates, both just a point behind them, and Perth Bayswater trailing by four, the chance to leapfrog the Seagulls and drop them to sixth.
All three will be favourites to claim the points with Wests at Joondalup, Associates at home to Kalamunda and Perth Bayswater hosting bottom of the ladder Wanneroo Districts for the Bill Watt Cup.
Nedlands are still an outside chance to make the finals, sitting on 37 points in seventh after a mini-resurgence, beating Kalamunda 24-22, Southern Lions 39-27 and UWA 26-22 before their bye last weekend.
But they face a real test of their finals credentials on Saturday when they clash with Palmyra at Tompkins Park in the Stan match of the round.
Nedlands have boosted their squad with some new faces in recent weeks including two outside backs from Japan and New Zealand and a newly recruited Argentinian hooker from Wanneroo.
Coach Sam Rarasea knows they face a momentous task.
"It was unfortunate that the bye came when it did after a few good wins," Rarasea said.
"We've had injuries, lost a couple of blokes and our colts have been getting burnt but we've injected a couple of new blokes.
"There's no doubt Paly are the benchmark.
"They are very powerful, they get front foot ball pretty easily with their big forwards and tries come out wide so we have to tighten our defence inside the 15 metres.
"They choke teams inside and find space out wide for their dangerous runners.
"They will expose us if they get space so we have to be really well drilled and make our one-on-one tackles.
"Importantly, we have to improve our set piece.
"Our line-outs have been a gamble the last few weeks. They have not been the best."
Rarasea lamented lack of consistency and a failure to grab bonus points that could have had them closer to finals contention.
"Our problem is inconsistency," he said.
"When we win it's tight. When we lose we get flogged.
"Bonus points have been hard to come by.
"We've got more wins than Cottesloe and Baysie but we're off the pace because of their bonus points."
With five rounds remaining Rarasea described the countdown to the finals as "crazy".
"There have been10-point turnarounds and with five games to go we have to make sure we get what we can on the training paddock and keep the belief," he said.
"We'd like to think we could pick off a few points but we can't afford to do that.
"It's an old cliche but we've just got to focus on Paly this week.
"We've got to shut everything out and focus on winning.
"We haven't got the first grade side or they guys that we had in previous years, but we have to put belief into these young blokes and hope they will run through walls for you.
"It will take an almighty effort.
"Palmyra are the best team around and they have done a good job keeping bodies on the paddock."
The Colts clash between Associates is the RugbyWA YouTube game of the week.
