Leeton-Whitton defender Tom Meline is expecting a tough outing this weekend as the Crows play host to Turvey Park.
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The Crows pulled off one of the upsets of the season when the two sides last met in round three as Leeton defeated the reigning premiers by one point at Maher Oval.
The win created a bit of momentum for the Crows who have since gone on to record wins against Wagga Tigers and Narrandera.
Having beat the Bulldogs in their last clash, Meline was hopeful the Crows could replicate that performance in front of their home supporters at Leeton Showgrounds.
"Yeah it'd be great," Meline said.
"But I think when we versed them last time we might've got them on a bit of an off-day.
"I thought we played really well so we'll be expecting a pretty tough outing against them this weekend.
"I think they'll be coming out with a bit of vengeance in that regard, but it was a great win over there.
"I can't remember the last time I played at Maher Oval and beat them over there so it was a nice surprise.
"It was great for all the young ones that haven't had a lot of success over the last couple of years.
"To grab a win like that it was awesome for us, so it would be nice to do it in front of all the spectators this weekend."
The Crows currently sit seventh as the Riverina League reaches round 12 and they've shown some improvement after a couple of lowly years towards the bottom of the ladder.
Meline said that it's been good to nab a couple of surprising victories and he believes it's helped create a bit of belief in what they are building towards.
"Out of the three years that Tom's (Groves) has coached us it's the most we've won," he said.
"It's also been nice to get a couple of Wagga sides in there where in the last couple of years they've just wiped the floor with us.
"For all the young kids coming through and even the older blokes that have been there for a while, it was really nice to see them get a win under their belt.
"It does wonders for the young blokes though, all the blokes that have got less than 50 games under their belts when they've come in when we mightn't have had the greatest team.
"It was awesome and they were all pretty happy with it."
The Crows enter the clash off a heavy defeat in the MIA derby where they went down to local rivals Griffith by 87 points.
Meline conceded they were no match for the Swans and noted that a slow start in the opening term put them on the back foot.
"We thought if we could compete with them early we might give ourselves a chance," he said.
"I just felt after beating Tigers and Narrandera and having two good weeks in a row we might have had a bit of momentum going into it.
"But their start killed us and it just snowballed for the rest of the game, we really couldn't shut them down at all."
It's been a big week for the Crows as it was announced that Lucas Meline is returning home from the SANFL next year to takeover the reins as senior coach.
Tom hasn't played a whole lot of footy with his brother and he said he was looking forward to having him back at the Crows next season.
"Yeah I'm really excited," he said.
"I think the only time I've played footy with him was in the Covid year and I think also in 2016, so I've only had the two seasons with him.
"It will be really nice to have a long season with him next year and hopefully we can keep everyone around.
"I think Tom (Groves) has done a great job over the last three years, I know we haven't had the best win's and loss record but the effort he's put in has been unreal."
