With the McMahon Shield’s round seven abandoned due to wet weather, it is the perfect time to analyse the state of play in preparation for a busy back half of the season.
Let’s start with the league leaders, Echuca (5-1), who after losing to BLU in the opening round, have yet to drop a game since.
The men in green have looked dominant so far with wins over rival Moama and Leitchville-Gunbower of particular interest.
Echuca’s battle with second-placed Rochester in round 11 is one to watch as the two will face each other in a night game midway through January, and could give us an idea of the outcome of the season.
Rochy, the darling of the season, was undefeated to begin the Shield which was impressive considering it missed finals last summer.
Now heading into round eight, the side has only lost once, in a tight contest with Moama in round six.
Although, it looked like it was in for a second loss before rain saved the day as BLU posted a mammoth 254 total to chase down.
Third-placed Echuca South, are the type of team that will always be in and around the top four but typically struggle against stronger teams.
After beating a hobbled Moama in round one, it then lost its next two contests against Rochester and L-G, which was sounding alarm bells, but got back on track against BLU and Tongala.
Perhaps the biggest wildcard of the competition and the last finals placeholder so far, Moama has had a unique season.
Firstly, the side has dealt with significant injuries, with multiple players coming in and out of the line-up which has impacted performance.
The Mowers got rolled by Echuca on their home ground in round five, a game of particular note considering they were the two grand finalists last year.
But they were able to bounce back and snap Rochy’s unbeaten streak, which showed the true potential of last season’s runners-up.
L-G has been the biggest surprise of the season thus far and has been able to get frisky with some of the competition’s best.
After finishing dead last in the previous season and winning just won game, L-G has bounced back this summer and sits just outside the finals picture.
Although it has lost to Echuca, Rochester and were heading towards a loss against Moama before rain intervened, L-G has learnt to get it done against weaker teams.
Is this team a true contender? That remains to be seen. It will have to secure more frequent victories against top teams, with its victory over the Swans the only win against a top-four side.
If I was putting teams in a tier list, I’d say L-G just edges into its own tier over both BLU and Ky Fire Brigade.
On their days, both the Lions and Flames could beat anyone, but are too heavily reliant on top-end talent to deliver every week.
When teams are this heliocentric, it’s difficult to topple the strength-balanced sides, who historically have the most success in this competition.
The Lions, in particular, were a finals team last year and are by no means out of the race but will need more contributions from the whole team to get there again in a strong competition.
The Flames are yet to win against a side outside the bottom two which may just indicate their destiny as better than the worst, worse than the best this season.
For Nondies-Cohuna and Tongala, both sides are yet to get a win so far this season and are effectively out of the finals hunt already, barring a miracle run in the back half of the season.