Haisman Shield mid-season review: What has caught the eye after two months of play?

We’ll be looking back at what we’ve learned from the first six-and-a-half rounds of the 2023-24 run.

There have been sky-punching underdogs, giants falling and moments of evergreen excellence trending in the months since cricket returned to the region.

This is why we’ve pegged our collective nose and cannonballed ourselves into the results pool to dig up the talking points as of December 1.

Here’s a handful of items to mull over as we hit the tea break, ahead of the second half of the season.

United’s been the bolter

At the midway mark, Shepparton United already has more wins than it managed during the entire 2022-23 season.

What’s more impressive is how it’s done it.

Sam Nash’s side knocked over Tatura, Northerners and Euroa — all of whom finished above it last season — after drawing with a flashy Numurkah unit in round one.

A top-six spot only evades United on percentage.

All this has been achieved without the services of Chaminda Vidanapathirana and Mahesh Kodamullage.

Though some handy additions have been enlisted, most of the star power has come from the side’s stalwarts.

Rehan Bari is the catalyst; his 415 runs have often catapulted United into winning positions when the going gets tough.

Nash has been the chief destroyer bowling-wise, picking up 10 wickets at 17.6.

Still, United is yet to fell one of the Haisman Shield giants.

Its two losses have come against Mooroopna and Central Park-St Brendan’s, and United will need a loud salvo with the bat to chase down Katandra’s near-300-run total on Saturday.

But here’s the kicker: after this weekend, United does not meet a current finals-bound opponent until the penultimate round.

If Nash’s charges can further improve their track record against the bottom six, a March appearance is almost guaranteed — not bad for a side that placed 12th last season.

Ky-abolical start

Even the most straight-faced clairvoyant would’ve pulled a grimace if they had stared into the crystal ball pre-season and seen Kyabram at 1-4 after five rounds.

Yet, this was a genuine reality.

Last year’s third-ranked side had the sourest of starts, with a win against Tatura sandwiched between losses to Nagambie, Numurkah, Northerners and Mooroopna.

The fixture run has not been kind to the Redbacks; this is true.

However, Kyabram has only won games when one or more players venture past the 100-run mark, pointing to a lack of load-share with the willow.

Paul Parsons (326) and Kyle Mueller (317) have the second and third most runs behind Rehan Bari and, despite sitting in ninth, Kyabram holds the competition’s fourth-best quotient.

Simply put, the Redbacks run white hot or teeth-chatteringly cold.

Whether or not Kyabram will return to finals this season rides solely on the ability to dig out consistency and put it to good use.

Waaia continues to wow

Let’s say, hypothetically, Waaia can defend a cool 334 runs against Northerners on Saturday.

That scenario takes the Bombers to 6-0. That’s six wins and zero losses for those at the back.

We know Waaia is a classy outfit, but it’s come to play for real this year, getting the whip cracking and making all in its path bow in command.

However, the Bombers’ flight path came close to crashing before even getting off the ground.

Waaia survived by the skin of its teeth in rounds one and two, stumbling through to nervy one-wicket victories over winless outfits Old Students and Karramomus.

After what was surely a lengthy look in the mirror, Mitch Cleeland’s boys skipped gears two through five, zooming straight into sixth and have sped past all challengers since.

So, how have they done it?

Well, for one, Jesse Trower has discovered 1999 Glenn McGrath-esque form, bagging an eye-popping 20 wickets, while import Reinhardt Engler has hit his stride with the bat, belting 252 runs at 42.

Could we see Waaia go from sixth in 2022-23 to the minor premier in the current campaign? Watch this space.

Eagles rocking and rolling

Last year’s premier Katandra has been good in the new season. But how good exactly?

Is it shield-winning form? Which way is the camber pointing? It may be too early to tell.

The Eagles are perched in third behind Waaia and Central Park-St Brendan’s, beating Mooroopna in their first significant test before falling to the Tigers sensationally in a grand final rematch.

Only once has Katandra been bowled out this season.

The Eagles know how to play the game smart and, factoring this in, playing finals is a surety.

But it’s what they do in the knockout phase that counts, as seen in last season’s parade in March to hoist the flag after shunting aside some of the premier contenders.

Eagles premiership-winning captain Ben Clurey is yet to appear in yellow, but his return, slated for Christmas, will be huge.

The real litmus test arrives on February 3.

Circle the date in your calendars. It’s Katandra versus Waaia with flag fancy status on the line.

Students’ rotten run

Not for the lack of trying Old Students have performed the most spectacular tailspin of any side this season.

Last year’s eighth-ranked team is rooted to the foot of the table, holding the unfavourable record of six games without result.

We at The News are genuinely puzzled as to how this has happened.

Electric prospects Ashton Young and Josh Robertson walked out the door in pre-season, but the club retained the fine talents of Callan McCabe, Felix Odell et al, while also reeling in Mohammad Shahid to Kialla Park.

Bar those three, plus Oscar Lambourn, no-one else has reached peak form for Students.

Opening batters Luke McPhillamy and Sam O’Brien haven’t performed to their usual high standards; wickets don’t seem to be coming as naturally for spin wiz Liam Callegari — nothing appears to have fallen in favour of McCabe’s XI in the past months.

It is not the death of hope, though.

Should the Students surpass Euroa’s total on Saturday, it will be an essential step forward on the road to recovery.

Last season’s 5-1-7 ledger is technically still possible to recreate though highly unlikely — but like they say in cricket, one brings two.