Macarthur Rams (first) v St George (second) is the standout game this weekend and this one should be a cracker.
The Rams are in a rich vein of form, fifteen points from their last fifteen, and into the last sixteen of the Waratah Cup after defeating Fairfield City Lions 2-1. Claudio Canosa will be back in charge for this game too, after his recent sojourn in Fiji, but he can be pleased with the 100% record of his assistant, Gilbert Yalda, in his absence. Macarthur are the league’s leading scorers, having taken that mantle in the last few weeks, and it will be to front pairing of Shannon Hankin and Chris Gomez that the Rams will again look for their strike power. They have scored thirteen between them this season so St George will need to keep a close eye on this pair.
St George, for their part, are also in a nice patch of form. They have lost only the once this season, away at Spirit, and have a couple of games in hand over the Rams giving them the opportunity to reduce that five point lead. In fact, the Saints have a date against Central Coast at Pluim Park on Thursday night, so no doubt their focus will firstly be centred on the Coast.
Two teams who both won last weekend are West Sydney Berries and Dulwich Hill and they will meet at Lidcombe Oval this Saturday night. The Berries secured a late victory against an undermanned Fraser Park last round while Dulwich Hill gained their first win against Sydney Uni. The confidence at both clubs will be on the up after those wins, the Berries now into the five and Dulwich Hill certain that better times are ahead. Steve Karavatakis’s side were involved midweek, facing Marconi in the cup, and did extremely well in defeating the Premier League side 3-2 at Marconi Stadium.
Fraser Park and Spirit will both have to pick themselves up when they meet at Sydenham. Both clubs started the season well but have slipped up recently and will want to get back to their winning ways. The Simpson brothers are still a couple of weeks away from taking the field again for Spirit, while Fraser Park had the fortune of playing their Waratah Cup game on Wednesday, allowing their trio of send offs from last weekend to serve their suspension in the cup. Fraser Park did overcome division two’s Chopin Park Rams 4-3 but it was a very close run thing and they needed extra time to do so.
Central Coast, after meeting St George on Thursday, will welcome Hills Brumbies to Pluim Park for their third home game in a week. How their second game in three days will play out remains to be seen. Goals have not been plentiful in the Coast’s games, at least not since round two, and they have remained scoreless for three league games now. Michael Simmonds, seen in this league last season at Northern Tigers, showed then that he knew where the net was and Grant Maundrell, while a little quiet lately, did start the season with a flourish. The Coast will hope that the strikes into the back of the net come soon.
Hills dropped to bottom after last week’s loss. They certainly weren’t disgraced though against one of the competition’s front runners, despite the late blowout with the score, and can look with confidence ahead. They produced a great result in stunning their Premier League opponents Rockdale in Wednesday’s cup game, by 3-1, and so will travel to the Coast eager now for some more Super League points.
At Hensley Field, Sydney University meet Blacktown Spartans. Both sides lost last weekend but had the opportunity to get back on to winning ways, with their midweek cup matches. It was perhaps somewhat harder for Uni, getting perhaps the most difficult draw imaginable, drawing Sydney United away. But they took United to extra time before succumbing 4-2, a fine effort.
Spartans entertained Port Kembla, the traditional powerhouses in the Illawarra, and took away a 3-1 win, another excellent cup result for a Super League team. The Spartans have worked hard in their inaugural Super League season and are out to impress. They have certainly done that so far.
The only Sunday game sees Northern Tigers and Granville Rage clash at Mills Park. It has been a very tough time for the Tigers as they seek to defend their championship, their lack of goals a surprise. The absence of Paul Davies has not helped though the recent signing of Gavin Forbes, from the Newcastle Jets youth team should add some spark. Granville Rage have worked themselves solidly back into the top five over the past fortnight, with two straight wins, and will fancy their chances to come away with something this week. While they may have been eliminated from the Waratah Cup after being beaten by Sutherland 2-0, they did make the Sharks work for the win. Both clubs need the points to enhance their table position, this will be a difficult one.
-By Peter Rowney
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