After round 13 clashes concluded on Saturday, let’s run through the permutations of how the final table could shake out.
Three sides are still in the hunt for top spot, Rochester (102 points), Echuca (96) and Moama (90) trading the honour throughout the season.
Rochy’s win over Moama this week puts it in prime position, particularly as it heads into a contest with winless Nondies-Cohuna in the final round.
A Rochester victory will force Echuca to score an outright win over BLU to go top on quotient, while, should Rochy score all 18 points, it is guaranteed the minor premiership.
Echuca could theoretically fall as far as fourth should it suffer a heavy outright loss to BLU, but the loss of a home semi is the more likely concern.
Moama needs both rivals to falter and a win over Echuca South to take the top spot, but a more realistic goal could be to move into second and secure a home final.
Finals race
BLU (78 points) could tie or pass Moama if it defeats Echuca, but will be more concerned with holding off the challenge of Kyabram Fire Brigade (72) and Echuca South (66).
The Flames have the best quotient of the three, meaning the Lions must match their result to avoid dropping out of the finals.
The Swans will be relying on other results, even if they score a win over Moama.
The rest
Leitchville-Gunbower’s race is run as it has the bye for the final round.
L-G were in contention for much of the season but fell off late.
Tongala would snatch seventh from L-G should it defeat Fire Brigade in the last round, an impressive achievement considering the Blues were winless until the week before Christmas.
After a torrid season, Nondies-Cohuna will be looking to take something from the year by scoring its maiden win, but ladder-leader Rochester looks like a tall task.
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