THE Casey Scorpions go into today's first round of the VFL finals against Northern Bullants facing elimination, a prospect that seemed unlikely for most of the season with the Scorpions entrenched in the top four.

But a one-point loss to Coburg in the second-last round and an upset victory by Werribee over Williamstown in the final round elevated Werribee to fourth and stripped Casey of the double chance.

"It was disappointing, but look, we probably knew it was going to happen when we lost to Coburg," said senior coach Greg Hutchison.

Although Casey had the Bullants' measure at their only meeting this season in round six, when Casey trounced today's opponents by a whopping 118 points, Hutchison believes the Bullants have the advantage this time around.

"I think they've got a definite advantage because they'll have 17 or 18 fit AFL players to pick from, while we've only got 12 or 13," Hutchison said.

"Any AFL-aligned club that can boast that sort of depth is at an advantage."

Casey welcomed back full-back Alex Silvagni from injury last week and Hutchison says the key defender came through the game against Collingwood in good shape. Inspirational captain Kyle Matthews returns from injury for today's game to have the Scorpions close to full strength.

"We just need some luck, something we haven't had a lot of in the last month," Hutchison said.

Having knocked off Sandringham and then North Ballarat at home, the only team to do so all season, over the final four rounds, Northern Bullants coach David Teague is confident of a good showing against Casey.

Teague says the side that takes the field against Casey today will be one of the Bullants' strongest all season.

In today's other do-or-die match, Frankston will be hoping to briefly extend Brett Lovett's coaching career when it takes on Coburg at Port Melbourne.

Lovett is standing down at the end of this season after six years at the helm.