There's nothing like a trip to the defending champions in early season to test a football team's real potential.
For Manning Rangers, this "barometer game" comes up on Saturday when they face Orlando Pirates as part of the Castle Premiership's round four proceedings at the old football mecca in Orlando.
Four points from three games may not be the start that Bucs would have envisaged, especially after their squad enhancement and historic win over English side Tottenham Hotspur in the pre-season.
But that's what makes them so dangerous and requires new Mighty Maulers coach Steve Komphela to come up with the right plan for what is his side's first away game of the season.
At least confidence is not a problem.
Two wins from their two games to date have the Maulers sitting in the top five, despite some clubs having played a game extra, and this has put Komphela in the fans' good books.
But some will argue that both those "three-pointers" came against lightweight opposition at Chatsworth Stadium and that Pirates will prove a different kettle of fish, giving Komphela's men their first real test of the season.
The coach has to make at least one change to his side after lanky striker Dale Studzinski picked up a soft red card in last Saturday's victory over Hellenic.
New recruit Lebohang Kukame appears the obvious replacement, but the man from Jomo Cosmos could see some competition from Edson Minga should the latter's registration forms be processed without hassle on Friday.
Minga, a Congolese who helped Zulu Royals win promotion last season, has trained with the Maulers for about a month and even went on their team-building camp.
Rangers administration manager Japhet Ndlovu said the club had also agreed to sign the other trialist, Nigerian Kennedy Boboye, but there was much less chance of him playing this weekend because they still needed to get an international clearance certificate, as well as a work permit, for him.
"Minga will be ready to play before Boboye because, as a free agent who is now married to a South African, he does not need an international clearance or work permit," he said.
Boboye arrived at the club well after Minga.
Zulu Royals, meanwhile, will be playing their third game in seven days when they come up against Dynamos at King's Park soccer stadium on Saturday.
If the new-look Usthu lose to their fourth-bottom opponents in their own backyard, then everybody will know not to expect great things from them this term.
Both sides have players who can knock the ball around the park quite nicely, but have so far shown little in the form of penetration skills.
Both have gone three games without a win and they can't afford to drop points again.
After all, the sins of the early season always come back to haunt clubs in the second round when points are much harder to collect.
Durban's third club, Lamontville Golden Arrows, will look to build on their midweek victory over Dynamos when they host log leaders Kaizer Chiefs at King's Park on Sunday.