It seems that no one wants to win Super League this season. No sooner do teams reach the top, they start to drop points and last weekend was a prime example.
You had to look down to sixth spot to find a club that took the win and it is becoming a real bottleneck throughout the whole table. The way things are currently playing out, there are nine teams who have a strong claim for the semis while both Dulwich Hill and Fraser Park may also fancy their chances if they continue to get the results and the teams above them continue to drop points.
So this weekend’s round of matches will again test the mettle of all clubs.
Unusually, the majority of games this weekend are on Sunday with only two matches being played on Saturday evening. St George play Spirit FC at St George Stadium in a fixture which is always close. The Saints don’t have a good record against Spirit, whether home or away, and have only won one match from the five that they have played, with Spirit claiming four victories. If ever there was a time for St George to reclaim some ground, it is this weekend. St George’s match against Granville Rage was postponed again on Wednesday night and so they will have had a seven day break in readiness for this one.
Spirit have dropped a little recently and have taken one point from nine. It must be of some concern to John McLafferty whose team had hit top spot just three weeks ago. But even with that drop in form, they are still only one point from first, and if they can be in that position at this stage, things are still bright. They played their traditional match against the Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday and went down by 2-0 but the lineup was spread across both grades so it was a worthy hit out.
Central Coast welcome Blacktown Spartans to Pluim Park. The Coast were due to play Sydney University on Tuesday night but a late afternoon and early evening downpour saw that game postponed due to the pitch flooding. While the Under 20s game managed to get completed, there was no such luck for first grade. So Central Coast will have to wait for the Spartans to try and get last week’s loss to Dulwich Hill out of their system. Blacktown, too, suffered a loss last round and have stayed fifth by just the one point. Perhaps the Waratah Cup game took a bit out of them for last weekend, the extra time quarter final with ten players taking its toll. It won’t be any easier this weekend either, another tough game on Wednesday, again with ten players, saw the Spartans go out of the cup at Mounties Wanderers. A red card to Glen McPherson will see him miss the Coast game.
On Sunday, leaders West Sydney Berries travel to Lily Homes Stadium to meet bottom placed Hills Brumbies. The goals have dried up a little for the Berries in the past two games, only one a game which is unusual for the league’s top scorers. But if they think this weekend should be easier, they may be in for a surprise. Hills will be fighting for their Super League lives now and they haven’t been helped by the Fraser Park and Dulwich Hill results. They showed what they can do against Spirit FC a couple of weeks ago when Spirit were top so anything is possible.
After their wasted trip up the F3 to Central Coast on Tuesday, Sydney University clock up more kilometres when they head south this time to Lynwood Park and Macarthur Rams. They won’t mind the travel though if they can come away with the three points. Uni are on something of a roll at the moment after a mid season glitch and they may fancy their chances against the Rams. They will be without keeper Michael Frost who is still unavailable, but in former Super League goalkeeper of the year, Trinity Allen, they have a more than able replacement. The Rams will be ruing their late goal conceded last week, so they will be well primed to make amends this Sunday.
Granville Rage greet Dulwich Hill at Garside Park. This will be a tight affair with Dully appearing to have solved their defensive woes from earlier in the season. They have kept a clean sheet for the past two games and taken full points so their confidence is on the rise. Robbie Shields though was absent last weekend with a hamstring strain and may not yet be right for this game. The Rage continue to get the results although last weekend did see them slip up. It was around this time last season that Granville commenced their slide, suffering a horrendous end to the season. That is one thing which they will be determined not to let happen again.
Northern Tigers v Fraser Park is decisive. The Tigers, after two straight wins earlier in the month, have slipped back into their ‘draw’ mode but they need three points here. A win will really see them in the thick of the action and close enough to the five to keep them keen but anything less, could see the finals start to get out of reach. Fraser Park have drawn themselves away from the bottom but could slip back there if they drop their concentration. They won’t want to see their recent good work become undone and their recent performances do suggest they will gather more points. It was at Fraser Park in round five that the Tigers got their first win of the season. The Tigers will need to be at the top of their game though to make it a double.
-By Peter Rowney
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