The two sides are locked together at the top of the AFL Central West women's ladder and have one win apiece from the two previous match-ups this season.

With the Giants having been the dominant force in the women's game in recent years - they had won 56 straight games prior to their loss at Dubbo last month - Demons coach Peter Martinoli is all too aware this weekend offers the chance to gain a real edge.

"It's winner takes all," he said.

"They've always sent the benchmark as the team to beat and it's really good to have that challenge and need to improve how we're going.

"If we keep improving and they stay the same you might able to catch-up and even overtake, but obviously the idea is they're going to keep improving as well so we've got to continually work on our own game."

READ ALSO:

- Peter McDonald Premiership's Top 20 Most Influential Players

- How Rhinos handle being the hunted, not the hunter, could decide title dreams

- Shorter trip a smart choice as Yak holds on in rare victory for Lunn

The Demons have developed into the Giants' biggest threat this year largely due to the development on the field and increased depth within the club.

Martinoli had handed more than 10 players their Demons debut already this season while a number of players from Dubbo Junior AFL's youth girls side have also been pushing for game time.

It's been a welcome change for the coach, who had to deal without any players on the bench on numerous occasions last year.

After a loss to the Giants in round one, the side scored five successive wins before the general bye on the long weekend.

While momentum was building, Martinoli was still pleased to have the break last weekend as it offered a chance to "reset and refocus".

After training this week, the coach and players took the chance to come together and speak about how things stand after six rounds, strategy moving forward and how people have felt about the various positions they've played.

"It was a probably a good point in the year to have that break," Martinoli said.

"There's definitely plenty of room for improvement from where we are but I'm sitting comfortably with what we've done and how we've prepared through the year.

"There's been a couple of games where we haven't perf at our best but still got a win ... I'm really happy with how it's tracking."

In terms of the battle on the field on Saturday, the midfield shapes as being key once more.

The Demons won the ball in the middle of the park regularly in their most recent win over the Giants and were able to move it forward into attacking areas.

"It's getting first use of the ball out of midfield," Martinoli said.

"We did it really well a few weeks ago and that shut them down so if we can get to the ball first or at least stop them from getting a clean possession, that will be the biggest thing.

"And we've got to be very physical, like they are."

The women's match starts at 12.30pm on Saturday while the men's Tier 1 game starts at 2.30pm.

The Demons' top tier side sits second on the ladder behind the Bathurst Bushrangers but have still struggled for consistency this season.

They produced a brilliant effort to defeat the Bathurst Giants last month but followed that up with a 95-point loss to the Bushrangers in Bathurst.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: