But the Lions managed to compose themselves and turn that momentum around to record a 11.8 (74) to 7.6 (48) win over the in-form Power at North Dalton Park on Saturday.

Ben Hyndes booted six goals for the winners while other standouts included teammates David Nolen and Saxon Forrest.

It was a crucial win for the Men's Premier Division's reigning champions, strengthening their hold on third place with finals just around the corner.

Lions coach Ray Burgess said Saturday's win was their best of the season.

"I'm really proud of the boys, they stood up when they had to. It was a really positive result," he said.

"We talked about momentum and being able to control the game, and I think we did that really well. They kicked three goals in the first five minutes and could have blown the thing open. But we wrestled control back and started playing the game back on our terms a little bit, and that really helped us as we went forward.

"We had our captain and our two vice-captains missing, so we had a few key players out. So I thought it was a really good win particularly when we had to win to stay in the finals hunt."

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After that initial three-goal burst by Kiama, the Lions managed two goals to claw the deficit back to seven points at quarter time.

Wollongong started to wrestle back control in the second quarter, kicking four goals to one, to establish a 14-point advantage at the half-time break.

It was another tough tussle in the third, but the Lions again outscored their opponent to take a 20-point lead into the final break.

The home side then kicked two goals, and conceded just one, to round out a 26-point victory.

While pleased with his team's performance, Burgess also praised Kiama for putting up a strong challenge at North Dalton Park.

"They're a good side, they had a couple missing as well," the coach said.

"They're going to be really good come finals time. They have the bye next week, but they're going to be really good when we get to the pointy end."

Wollongong will cap off their regular season campaign when they take on the Kangaroos at Figtree Oval next Saturday.

The two sides met in a grand final rematch to kick off the 2020 season, which Figtree won by 86 points.

"They absolutely pantsed us in round one," Burgess said.

"So we need all the confidence we can muster to get thereabouts with them next week. Hopefully we can carry some of that over to round 10 and see how we go from there."

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In Saturday's other Men's Premier Division results, Pat Walker kicked 11 goals as the Wollongong Bulldogs proved far too strong for Shellharbour at Myimbarr Oval.

The Bulldogs led by 50 points at half time and powered home in the last two quarters, booting 15 goals to two, to secure a 25.16 (166) to 4.5 (29) victory.

While Walker was the clear standout in front of goals, others to shine for the Bulldogs included Matt Westaway, Bentley Murphy and Jack Kelly.

Northern Districts also emerged victorious in a battle of the Tigers, beating Bomaderry by 19.3 (117) to 7.5 (47) at Hollymount Park.

After leading by 28 points at half time, Norths pressed hard in the final two quarters, booting 11 goals to four to run out convincing winners.

Cody Haub led the way with six goals for Norths while his teammate Brendan Davis kicked five.