At Bellevue Oval in Armidale the New England Nomads will host the Tamworth Kangaroos. The Kangaroos have set the bench mark this year and will certainly go into this game with confidence in their game plan. The Nomads have been a bit up and down so far this year. They have been on the road 3 out of their 5 games so far and have won just one of these. This with their 2 wins at home have them well placed to finish in the top 3 and get the all important double chance. Coach, Brendan Meehan, knows he will have to stop his rampaging counterpart in Tim Cotter, 14 goals in the last two games, to have a chance in this game. The trouble is if you stop Cotter you then have to stop the next one in the dangerous Cam Douglas. The Nomads do have their own raft of stars in the midfield and will need their big ruckman, Omphile Temoso who is from Botswana not Sudan sorry Omphile, to give his small men first use of the ball. If he can do this and they can get the ball down to Weston Whitby one on one I would back Weston to win. This game is really going to be won in the midfield and it will be a great contest to watch.
Prediction: This is fraught with danger going against the Kangaroos but because it is in Armidale I will tip the Nomads by 7 points.
The Inverell Saints took the first step to getting their season back on track last week with their win over the Eagles. This week will be the test though when they host the Gunnedah Bulldogs. The Bulldogs has sneaked under everyone's guard and gone quietly about their season and find themselves in a three way tie for 2nd place. Pete Chapman is doing a great job in his first year as Coach and he will be looking forward to this latest challenge. The Saints will need to put their best team on the ground to have a chance here and with the return of their Coach, Nick Baird who was working last weekend, will no doubt do just that. The Bulldog's Sam Naismith would be a dark horse for the Tony Gillies Medal right now and could be the difference between these two teams. When he finishes filling out he will be just about immovable at ruck contests and in marking duels and that is when his full benefit to the Bulldogs will come to the fore. For now he is just remarkable in the future he will be outstanding.
Prediction: This is going to be a good contest but it has been a long time since the Bulldogs have won at Varley Oval and I think the Saints will win by 13 points.
The last game could see the Muswellbrook Cats munching on some Narrabri Eagles down at the Cattery. The Eagles have had their best start to a season ever, but they have just stubbled slightly over the last couple of rounds. The loss to the Kangaroos was not unpredictable but the loss to the Saints last week was. It would have been frustrating for their coach, Phil Dennis, and he will have stressed to his team this week what an opportunity they let slip last week. The Cats are coming off the bye last week and should be all fired up for this game. The return this year of Bryce O'Connor to the coaching role has really boosted them. After breaking their long standing losing streak two rounds ago against the Swans they narrowly went down to the Bulldogs at the Kennel in round 5 and will feel they are a real chance in this game. The Eagles will go into this game as favourites and deservedly so, but will know that if they don't take their A game being favourites means nothing.
Prediction: The Cats have a great opportunity to grab another win here and do something they haven't done in years, get off the bottom of the ladder and I think that will spur them on enough to win this game by 16 points.
Last Modified on 21/06/2011 23:15