It’s getting harder by the week to pick premiership favourites in the Picola District Football Netball League.
Polarisation is hardly anything new in this competition — which inevitably leads to wondering about the current format — but the winning sides have all kept on rolling after round 13 action at the weekend.
Wins came for five of the existing top six sides, with the only loser among the bunch falling to a team that was expected to be sitting there pre-season.
Waaia was the centre of festivities, though, as the Bombers honoured playing coach Mitch Cleeland, running out for his 300th game in the red and black.
Quite literally, the home side at Waaia Recreation Reserve had half the job done by quarter-time, kicking nine of its eventual 18 goals in a one-way first term that shellshocked the visiting Deniliquin Rovers.
Adding three, four and two goals in the respective following three quarters, the game largely plodded along with Cleeland long since assured a worthy celebration of his club milestone.
The Bombers just fell short of the triple-figure win, but nonetheless gladly took an 18.10 (118) to 2.7 (19) result home for victory number eight in 2024.
Usual suspects Connor Brown and Charlie Burrows were up and about again with three goals each, but the score sheet was overall surprisingly balanced with 10 individual goal-kickers for the victorious reigning premiers.
Man of the hour Cleeland was reserved in his acknowledgement of the milestone, but commended his squad on a job handily done.
“It’s another good win in the column for us, so I’m pretty happy,” Cleeland said.
“It was a good show of how evenly spread we were across the board; we had solid contributions from everyone.
“It’s not something we necessarily set out to do, but it fell that way and we’re certainly not unhappy about it.
“There’s no individualistic mindset creeping in. We’re all making sure we’re playing out a team performance and whatever happens, if we can get that win, that’s the biggest bonus for us.
“You don’t play for the recognition in those sorts of things, but it’s really nice to put all those games together at one club. It’s home for me and that’s a big bonus.”
Cleeland maintained that no mention of the special occasion was made pre-match and there was no additional motivating factor behind the Rovers game, but the four points stand out above the rest.
That’s partially because Waaia won’t meet any of the three sides above it in the final five rounds of the year, so it’s all about getting business done and seeing what else unfolds.
It might be hard to gain much ground on the current podium teams, though, based on their own runs of form.
Ladder leader Katandra, led by the seven majors of Corey Hickford, followed Waaia’s lead in holding its opponent to two goals, with Talon Wilson popping up for five in a 20.17 (137) to 2.0 (12) shellacking of Berrigan to scoop a 10th win.
Elsewhere, Katamatite followed suit in moving to a double-figure win tally against two-goal opposition, riding a combined 11 goals from Mitch Coleman (six) and Dylan Flanagan (five) to belt Mathoura 19.14 (128) to 2.7 (19).
Completing the winning trio up top was Strathmerton, whose ever-reliable spearhead Tim Looby snagged five in a slightly more subdued 13.3 (81) to 3.5 (23) win over Jerilderie.
Picola United has emerged as a surprise contender waiting beneath the established leaders, moving to a noticeable 7-4 record after accounting for Tocumwal 13.6 (84) to 8.8 (56).
Tungamah was able to continue its difficult climb towards returning to finals contention, enhancing its prospects at 5-6 by knocking over fifth-placed Katunga 15.9 (99) to 10.11 (71).
Lastly for the seniors, Rennie thoroughly enjoyed a welcome third win of the campaign, proving far too good for Blighty in a big 19.17 (131) to 4.9 (33) result.
There was a genuine shock to be found on the Picola competition’s A-grade courts, though, as three leading sides became two.
Standouts Katamatite and defending premiers Deniliquin Rovers comfortably handled their business, the former putting a 75-25 drubbing on Mathoura and the latter taking care of Waaia 46-23.
There came a gigantic boilover over at Strathmerton, where the Bulldogs suffered their first defeat at home all season in falling to Jerilderie 50-44, with the Demons scraping through to claim their third win of the year.
Katandra more than took advantage of Strathmerton’s eye-popping slip-up, not only winning, but obtaining percentage that could prove crucial in a 74-29 mauling of Berrigan.
Also leapfrogging the Bulldogs into the top four was Katunga, which produced its fourth win on the spin in accounting for Tungamah 38-22 to stay with the pack.
Following Strathmerton’s and Waaia’s defeats, Tocumwal and Rennie have now closed to a one-game gap outside the top six after recording pivotal victories of their own.
The Bloods were too good for Picola United, prevailing 53-29, while Rennie produced a near-identical scoreline in win number six by knocking over Blighty 53-28.