Ag College are looking to make the most of some luck to secure their place in the Southern Inland finals.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Only seven points separate three teams looking to snare fourth spot with two rounds left in the home and away season.
Ag College are in the box seat after Tumut's surprise loss to CSU last Saturday left them four points clear of their closest rivals.
Albury aren't out of the mix either despite sitting is sixth with games against Reddies and Aggies to come.
Ag College coach Tom Lamond was pleasantly surprised to see his side still in the top four.
"It was a bit of an upset in our eyes as we were all thinking Tumut would have got the bonus-point win to jump us and make it a little tougher but (CSU) helped us out, which was nice of them," Lamond said.
He's hoping they can make the most of it when they host Griffith at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday.
READ MORE
The Blacks took a 24-14 win when the two teams met earlier this season, but with plenty to play for Lamond is hoping they can rise to the challenge against the third-placed team.
"It is a big game this weekend, especially with how we played against them last time over there," he said.
"The first 20 minutes we were horrible, it was probably our worst 20 minutes of football and they capitalised on it, but the next 60 minutes we fixed it and ended up beating them in those 60 minutes.
"It will be a good game for us to start as we can't afford not to this time."
However Ag College come into the clash with a different form line.
Back then they were coming off a breakthrough win over Waratahs but this time around they've only won one of their four games in the second half of the season.
However Lamond thought there were plenty of positives to take from the 38-7 loss to Waratahs a fortnight ago.
"'Tahs was a good first half, it was only 14-7 at half-time before they just ran away with it," he said.
"They just did a few smart things against us.
"I think we were the better team for the first 20 minutes."
Captain Riley Catts is back in their lineup and his return to flanker sees Tom Heilman push back into the second row with Tasman Kuhn returning to second grade.
Lamond also expects a better showing from five-eighth Anthony Taylor, who missed their last clash with the Blacks.
"With AT (Taylor) back after his few weeks off he can get back into the groove of things," he said.
"With him and Will Crawford controlling the game we should be able to play off them a fair bit."
Griffith have made a couple of changes as well after their 29-10 loss to Wagga City.
The Blacks will likely rest fullback Daniel Bozic, after he picked up a couple of knocks in the clash, while Oleni Ngungutau will be given another week to recover from his injury. However they will welcome back key forward Chris Latu.
Meanwhile CSU are looking to make it two wins on the trot when they travel to face Albury at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Tumut have the bye but will be without Samuela Cava for next week's clash with Wagga City after he was suspended.
Cava received his second red card for the season, with both coming against Reddies for two yellow card offences.
Usually that would result in a one-game ban but after the judiciary took into account Cava's poor disciplinary record this season, which has seen him yellow carded eight times, they thought a second week was appropriate. Whether Tumut play finals will determine when Cava will be able to return to the field
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters