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After four years of dominance, Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong is set to relinquish the premiership cup to a new champion come September 23.
A disastrous start to the year, partly due to injury and unavailability, has left the Lions with an enormous task to make finals, let alone with a record-breaking fifth straight premiership.
As much as Lions players and supporters won’t like it, GGGM’s slip has been the best thing for the competition.
There is more interest surrounding the competition and the continuous upsets every week has breathed life back into the Riverina Football League.
Eight of the nine teams remain in the hunt for a premiership, a remarkable statistic that very few competitions can boast at the halfway point of the season.
The race for a spot in finals is going to be as exciting
and intriguing as the fight for the flag itself with just one game separating fourth to eighth.
Wagga Tigers slipped under the radar in the opening weeks of the competition and have opened up a handy one-game break on top of the ladder.
It, along with Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka and Leeton-Whitton has slightly broken away from the fourth-to-eighth chasing pack.
While Narrandera and GGGM still possess enough weaponry to go all the way, history suggests a top-three finish is a must for premiership success.
Tigers have enjoyed some fine wins over the opening half of the season but several of their wins have been in the balance midway through the final term.
They have a young, talented team, but on the flipside it lacks a lot of genuine finals experience.
Tigers’ may rightly argue that its youth will be its weapon on Narrandera Sportsground come finals, only time will tell.
CAK, in just its second year back in the RFL, look the real deal with experience, youth and plenty of talent.
Leeton-Whitton cannot be ruled out either as it also looks to have an attractive mix of talent, youth and experience.
A genuinely exciting finish to an RFL season has been a long time coming, but it’s here.
Bring it on.
Wagga Tigers
Position: First
Win loss ratio: 7 wins - 1 loss
Pre-season prediction: Fifth
Player it can’t afford to lose: John Anstee. Has really come of age this season and developed into one of the competition’s premier defenders. Rarely beaten.
Verdict: Wagga Tigers have been the surprise packet of the Riverina Football League competition, winning their past seven games to emerge as ladder leaders at the half-way mark.
Tom Power and Gavin McMahon have been able to put some good systems in place and the talented young group are carrying out the instructions perfectly.
Tigers rarely smash the opposition but continue to get the job done.
The only concern will be a lack of finals experience among the young group come finals.
Maybe a year too early but have made a wonderful impression given the club has gone without a home ground.
Mid-season prediction: Third
Collingullie-AK
Position: Second
Win-loss: 6-2
Pre-season prediction: Third
Player it can’t afford to lose: Marc Geppert. The big left-footer is enjoying his best ever season with 51 goals from eight games and is one of the big reasons behind the Demons’ success.
Verdict: CAK endured an inconsistent start to the year but has managed to get its act together in recent weeks as the Demons’ edged closer to a full-strength team.
The Demons’ weakness last year was a lack of depth through the midfield but this has turned into almost a strength with the arrival of Chris Gordon, Curtis Allen and the continued development of Caleb Vearing.
CAK’s forward line is firing on all cylinders and should only get better in theory with the arrival of Matt Withers.
The only query remains the strength of the defence but it has enough firepower and finals experience to go all the way.
Mid-season prediction: Premier
Leeton-Whitton
Position: Third
Win-loss: 5-3
Pre-season prediction: Runner up
Player it can’t afford to lose: Will Overs. He has shown plenty of promise in attack and is one of very few key forwards the Crows possess.
Verdict: A strong recruitment drive has paid off for the Crows and they can now lay claim to being genuine premiership contenders with big wins over CAK and Narrandera.
Leeton-Whitton has done enough over the first half of the season to set itself up for a top-three finish and expect them only to get better as the season goes on.
Ben Woods has just the one game under his belt, while Chris Downes and a few others are still to come in.
There is plenty to like about the defence and midfield, it just remains to be seen whether there is enough potency up forward to kick consistent winning scores.
Mid-season prediction: Runner up
Narrandera
Position: Fourth
Win-loss: 4-4
Pre-season prediction: Fourth
Player it can’t afford to lose: Andrew Johnston. Has been the Eagles’ best player to date and brings so much to the table up forward and in the ruck.
Verdict: Narrandera is arguably the most dangerous team in the competition on its day, but those days have not been able to come often enough.
The Eagles were another club to recruit heavily and they have brought in some outstanding footballers.
The trouble has been getting them on the field
together at the one time and Narrandera is going through a tough period as it struggles to over the missing personnel.
In such an even competition, Narrandera needs to get a couple of wins in recent weeks to ensure it doesn’t fall too far off the pace.
The Eagles can be a major player in finals, possibly even win it, but injury and unavailability is the threat.
That, and a question mark over whether they possess enough pace for the big ground come September.
Mid-season prediction: Fourth
Coolamon
Position: Fifth
Win-loss: 4-4
Pre-season prediction: Seventh
Player it can’t afford to lose: Jamie Maddox. He is the Hoppers’ barometer and it has already shown what takes place when he is missing out of their midfield.
Verdict: The Hoppers were on the canvas a month ago but have suddenly bounced back and claimed fifth spot by the halfway mark of the season.
The key to Coolamon’s season was the first round win over GGGM, which all of a sudden gave the Hoppers some much-needed belief after a tough off-season.
Given its list, Coolamon cannot afford to lose key players and that was highlighted when Jamie Maddox, Ben Edyvean, Nick Pleming and James McKenzie were all on the sidelines.
The Hoppers are playing with plenty of spirit and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did enough to keep a spot in the top five.
There will be nothing between fourth to eighth and this weekend will have a huge say on where they finish.
Mid-season prediction: Sixth
Griffith
Position: Sixth
Win-loss: 4-4
Pre-season prediction: Sixth
Player it can’t afford to lose: Guy Orton. His leadership skills, work rate and class sets the platform for Griffith.
Verdict: The Swans were flying high three weeks ago on the back of four straight wins but they have failed in their big tests against the top two teams.
There is no doubt Griffith possess enough class to win games of football but the Swans appear a different team on the road.
They don’t seem to play with the same confidence, work rate and passion.
Having said that, they will play eight games at home and are undefeated at Exies Oval.
Eight wins could be enough to make finals for the Swans, they only need to snare a couple of away games and they’re in business.
Mid-season prediction: Seventh
Ganmain-GGM
Position: Seventh
Win-loss: 3-5
Pre-season prediction: Premier
Player it can’t afford to lose: Jacob Olsson. Has been a shining light in a tough period and gives the Lions first use in the middle, as well as plenty of big marks around the ground.
Verdict: Wow, what an opening half of the season for the Lions.
Not much went right over the opening weeks of the competition, with injuries to Jarrod Conway and Nathan McPherson in round one, plus the ongoing unavailability of Christen McPherson and Mitch Steele.
This left the Lions without any forward line, and in the midst of trying to find a replacement, they lost their structure and lost too many games.
The fact they face the fight of their lives appears to have sunk in now, and the Lions are responding in style.
They can make finals, but they need to beat more teams than they lose to on the run home.
There is enough class in the midfield, and stability in the defence to win the necessary games.
A win over Coolamon on Sunday is a must.
Mid-season prediction: Fifth
Mangoplah-CUE
Position: Eighth
Win-loss: 3-5
Pre-season prediction: Eighth
Player it can’t afford to lose: Andrew Wild. He gives the team a focal point in attack and provides X-factor to a young developing team.
Verdict: The Goannas have taken several steps forward this season and should be happy with most of their performances for the year.
They have struggled for consistency, as a young team does, and that has proven the difference between fourth and eighth in an extremely even competition.
The continued development of some exciting younger players has been the highlight, along with the rise of co-captain Jack Killalea to one of the competition’s elite.
The Goannas are on the right track, but now probably face a tough task in making finals given they are a game plus significant percentage behind.
Probably a class player or two away from being a top five team.
Mid-season prediction: Eighth
Turvey Park
Position: Ninth
Win-loss: 0-8
Pre-season prediction: Ninth
Player it can’t afford to lose: Daniel Tooze. He has been one of the Bulldogs best week in, week out, providing a strong body and leadership through the midfield.
Verdict: It has been a tough start to the year for the Bulldogs as they have struggled to match it with the other eight teams in the competition.
They have a young group mostly made up of talented teenagers who will have plenty of character in future years as the club goes about climbing the ladder.
A win is unlikely but should be a goal for the group, while being as competitive as possible is critical so the club can begin to recruit players back to the club in the off-season.
Mid-season prediction: Ninth
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