Premierships on the Line Heading Detail
Two Country Zone
Premierships will be decided this weekend, while a host of Semi-Final and Final
Series will be contested across the state in the other zones.
In a repeat of
last year’s grand final, the Mid North
Coast Southern Competition will see the Old Bar Beach Clams (1) defending
the premiership against the Forster Tuncurry Dolphins (2) at Old Bar
Beach. The teams met in the major
semi-final and the Clams got away with a one point win, while the Dolphins had
to overcome Gloucester in a hard fought final last week to advance to the decider. The Clams will be counting on their big
forward pack to lay the foundation, while the Dolphins will be looking to
secure quick ball and to get it wide to their outside backs.
The New England grand final will be played
at the University of New England, Armidale and will feature the Armidale Blues
(1) and the Guyra Ghosts (2) in what is a repeat of the major semi-final. The Ghosts will be keen to reverse the
semi-final result in order to cap off a resurgence season which has seen the
club once again become a force in the zone, while the Blues will be looking to
turn their minor premiership into a premiership.
Woy Woy Oval
will be the venue for the Central Coast
minor semi-final which will see neighbouring clubs the Ourimbah Razorbacks (3)
and Gosford Red Devils (4) go head to head.
The clubs have met twice in the last three weeks with each registering a
win, so the result will be hard to pick and will come down to which team takes
opportunities on the day.
The Quirindi
Colts (3) will host the Narrabri Blue Boars (4) at Quirindi Rugby Park in the Central North minor semi-final. Both clubs come into the match with form on
the board, with the Colts enjoying a four match winning run into the
semi-finals, while the Blue Boars winning sequence was broken last week with a
narrow lose to the minor premiers Inverell.
Central
West
will stage a double header semi-final weekend which will see the major
semi-final played at Narromine on Saturday and the minor semi-final played at
Orange on Sunday.
The Narromine
Gorillas (1) and Bathurst Bulldogs (2) meet in the major semi-final with the
match set to be one of the highlights of the season. The Gorillas stormed home to claim the minor
premiership and will be looking to advance straight to the grand final, while
the Bulldogs are coming off a comprehensive win last weekend and will want to
maintain their momentum.
Orange City (3)
and CSU Bathurst (4) will contest the minor semi-final with the loser bowing
out for the season. Each team had
different results last week, the Lions suffered a crushing lose to the Bulldogs
while the Students had to work hard to overcome the Dubbo Roos to stay alive in
the final series. Both teams know this
weekend is “make or break” and won’t be holding anything back in what should be
a very close match.
The Far North Coast major semi-final will
be staged at Lennox Head on Saturday and will involve the Lennox Head Trojans
(1) and Wollongbar Alstonville Pioneers (2).
Both teams have been the form teams of the competition throughout the
year, but the Trojans will go into the match holding a slight advantage over
the Pioneers given the results during the year.
The Mid North Coast Northern Competition
will stage their preliminary final between the Hastings Valley Vikings (2) and
Coffs Crushers (3) at Port Macquarie. Both teams will be backing up from tough
matches last weekend, which saw the Vikings going down to Port Macquarie and
the Crushers overcoming their sister club the Breakers in a tight encounter.
A double header
weekend will be staged in the Hunter with the Newcastle Hunter zone conducting their qualifying and elimination
semi-finals.
The Hamilton
Hawks (2) and Newcastle Wanderers (3) will contest the qualifying semi-final on
Saturday at Hamilton in what should be a very even match. The Hawks have had mixed results over the
latter part of the season, while the Wanderers finished the last round of the
competition on a high with a solid win over the Hawks.
On Sunday the
action will move to Maitland where the Maitland Blacks (4) will host Newcastle
University (5) in the elimination semi-final.
The Blacks have had a consistent season and will be looking to advance
further on in the final series, while the Students will be out to maintain
their late season form which saw them claim their spot in the semi-finals.
The action out
west will see the battle of the Rams when Walgett (1) and Coonamble (2) contest
the Western Plains major semi-final
at Walgett. Both teams have dominated
the competition with the competition lead chopping and changing throughout the
season. Walgett will go into the match
as slight favourites due to the home ground advantage, but Coonamble will be
keen to take out the match in order to host the grand final.
Illawarra will stage the
last round of their competition, with the focus being on the final standing of
Tech Waratahs, Shamrocks, Shoalhaven and University behind Vikings who have
already clinched the minor semi-final.