CRRL: Race to the Finals: George Tooke Shield

[RNA]

   With only four rounds remaining of the regular, we take a look at the race for the finals in the George Tooke Shield.

Ladies League Tag

The finals race appears to be sorted for the ladies as fifth placed Boorowa hold a six-point lead over Gunning and Binalong with only four matches remaining in the regular season.

Bungendore currently hold a two-point lead, as the undefeated side hope to wrap up the minor premiership with their remaining fixtures but Boorowa and Crookwell will be doing their best to spoil the party.

If Bungendore manage to claim the minor premiership, they will enjoy a week off in the first week of finals.

Harden and Boomanulla currently sit in second and third respectively with Crookwell right on their tails.

With only two points separating Boomanulla and Crookwell, both sides will be hoping to secure third place to give themselves a second chance in this year’s finals series.

Meanwhile, fifth placed Boorowa only need two more wins to mathematically secure their place in the finals should Gunning (sixth) and Binalong (seventh) win their remaining fixture.

However, with three of Boorowa’s last four matches coming against the bottom three sides, only a major upset will prevent them from playing finals football.

Men’s

Crookwell appear to be well on track to secure this year’s minor premiership as they currently sit three points clear of both Harden and Boorowa on 24 points.

Harden and Boorowa are currently locked on 21 points and look destined to play each other in the first week of finals as they hold a three point lead over the fourth placed Bears.

Last year’s runners up, Harden, have only suffered two losses this season while Boorowa haven’t suffered a loss since round three.

Defending premier’s, North Canberra, currently sit in fourth place and could cause the other finalists plenty of headaches. Having beaten both Boorowa and Harden so far this season, the Bears won’t be fearing any of the teams around them.

With the sixth placed Bungendore Tigers only one point outside the top five, North Canberra and fifth placed Binalong are no certainties to play finals football.

However, the Tigers will have to navigate their way through one of the hardest set of fixtures possible [Boorowa (A), Crookwell (H) and (North Canberra (A)] if they are to make the top five.

The UC Grizzlies remain a slim chance of making the finals but are four points adrift of Binalong with a worse for and against.

George Tooke Shield Finals Format

First week:

Preliminary Major Semi-final: 2v3

Preliminary Minor Semi-final: 4v5

Second week:

Major Semi-final: 1 v Winner of 2v3

Minor Semi-final: Loser 2v3 v Winner 4v5

Third week:

Preliminary: Loser of Major Semi-final v Winner of Minor Semi-final

Fourth Week:

Grand Final: Winner of Major Semi-final v Winner of Preliminary final

Photo by R.S. Williams

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