The News grades each Haisman Shield club on their performance at the Christmas break

For the remaining seven, high marks are required in the competition’s second stanza to entertain the thought of playing March cricket.

In the meantime, The News busted out the highlighters and red pen to grade every club on its merits before play resumes this Saturday.

Central Park-St Brendan’s

Ladder position: Third

Grade: B-

A layer of lacquer seems to have been sanded off Central Park-St Brendan’s’ record in recent weeks.

The usually chic and shiny Tigers have dropped the past two games, the latest via reverse outright to 12th-placed Old Students.

After an immaculate start, the air of invincibility surrounding the Deakin Reserve tenants has broken.

But Tyler Larkin’s charges are by no means in the mud.

The Tigers are still snapping at the heels of Waaia and Mooroopna, however, from six outings Central Park-St Brendan’s has only mustered 943 runs off the bat, the lowest tally in the competition at almost half of Kyabram’s total of 1850.

This being said, they’ve been efficient with the ball and ruthless on the chase having not batted first in any of their games this season.

Euroa

Ladder position: 13th

Grade: D

Euroa could simply not catch a break in the opening run.

A second round bye followed a washout on week one, with captain Scott Hamilton initially targeting the extended pre-season as a chance to iron out the creases.

Unfortunately, a crushing eight-wicket defeat to Central Park-St Brendan’s first up set the tone for what came next.

Euroa’s bowling has become an area of concern, best demonstrated by Kyabram whacking it around for fun when it posted 4-407 in round six.

Only one Magpie (Vaughan Kirk, nine wickets) features in the Haisman Shield’s top 40 bowlers.

They’ve also skittled the opposition just once.

Despite this, Euroa hasn’t been far off the mark against Shepparton United, Old Students and Karramomus, and may only be a handful of net sessions away from banking one in the winners’ column.

Karramomus

Ladder position: 11th

Grade: C-

The learning curve has been steep for Karramomus’ young bunch this season.

One wicket was all that separated the Bloods’ from storming through the doors and knocking over Waaia in game one, but it wasn’t until game eight that victory finally arrived.

There’s no dancing around the fact runs have been an issue.

Just three half-centuries have been hit by Karramomus players — Jayden Dhosi, Nathan Jones and Cooper Delahey — while the side has not breached the 200-run barrier in any of its seven fixtures.

However, the Bloods’ bowling trident of Zane Newbound, Zac Groombridge and Lachie Keady (37 combined wickets) have kept them within a sniff in several of their games.

Karramomus needs to loosen the valve and score freely moving forward if it is to take anything from a stiff run of games after Christmas.

Katandra

Ladder position: Fourth

Grade: B

Currently sitting fourth, has the reigning premier underperformed?

Recency probably says yes, pointing a wagging finger towards a 2-2 ledger from Katandra’s past four games.

The Eagles have already dropped twice as many games as they did throughout the entire 2022-23 campaign, a worrying sign during a premiership defence.

It’s still early doors, though.

Former Northerners gun Ben Pedretti (202 runs at 28.9) has injected some hitting power into the Eagles’ order to pick up the slack, as captain Jedd Wright hasn’t yet been able to replicate his Lightfoot Medal-winning form from last season (424 runs, 21 wickets).

From past experience Katandra earns its crust in the latter part of the season and, given the pre-Christmas placing, it will need to do it again in the new year.

Kyabram

Ladder position: Eighth

Grade: C

Kyabram’s season appears to have splintered into two parts.

On one hand there is the October-early November Redbacks, sounding the siren after watching four of the first five games go straight down the toilet.

Then there’s the new Redbacks: three wins on the spin, two against the recent grand finalist, 904 runs scored, 35 wickets taken.

Hamstrung in the opening month, Kyabram exploded to life with the class of Kyle Mueller (469 runs) and Paul Parsons (364 runs) shining through.

English import Louis Sabbagh-Holt has proven to be the Haisman Shield’s surprise packet with his 18 wickets, adding a dangerous spin dynamic to the Redbacks’ pace attack.

But they can’t afford to drop off, because for a finals regular such as Kyabram, anything short of a top six finish would be disastrous.

Mooroopna

Ladder position: Second

Grade: A

Considering Moooroopna didn’t play a game until round three and didn’t win a game until round four, the turnaround has been remarkable.

Luke Zanchetta’s troops shook off the rust and powered to five straight wins and, like the cream, are slowly but surely rising nearer to the top.

Zanchetta spearheads a fierce Mooroopna bowling attack with 13 wickets, while Joel May (10) and Nick Breslin follow in hot pursuit.

Batting-wise, English import Matthew Price is quarterbacking the order with 211 runs and is the only Cat to snare a mention in the Haisman’s top 30 scorers this season.

However, work still needs to be done.

Mooroopna faces a stern return with Nagambie and Numurkah first up in January and it requires at least one win to keep the minor premiership dream afloat.

Nagambie

Ladder position: Fifth

Grade: B+

Last season Nagambie missed out on finals — not this time.

The Lakers have been the quiet achiever of the 2023-24 Haisman Shield, flicking the domino early to get the Ws rolling with only Waaia and Northerners scuppering a perfect pre-Christmas run.

A frighteningly-good 5-2 ledger dangles beneath Nagambie’s name, comfortably dealing with the majority of the top six to sit fifth.

How has it done it?

Nolan brothers Mark and Luke have been at the races with 428 combined runs, the former boasting 22 wickets, while the latter has gloved 10 catches.

The siblings have been, without question, the two most in-form Lakers, but there’s another brotherly duo in Mitch and Zac Winter-Irving that can inflict serious pain if they get going.

Depending on which way the pendulum swings, Nagambie could literally occupy any position inside the top six bracket come March.

Northerners

Ladder position: Ninth

Grade: B

Not many would’ve given Northerners a chance after a 0-3 start.

With no new signings and the exit of Ben Pedretti, it was if the Jets had reached for the champagne and instead swallowed brine — it was a sour entrance, many would agree.

But Stuart Turner’s men refused to lay down.

Following the torrid beginning, Northerners evened the score by winning the next three on the spin which began with an inspired, albeit unexpected, beating of Kyabram.

And one thing is for certain — the kids are all right up north.

Teenage tearaways Declan Newbound (128 runs, 10 wickets) and Zavier Davidson (217 runs, two wickets) have broken out as genuine A-grade threats and are fine complements to the Jets’ elder statesmen.

Though they stumbled against Waaia, Northerners remain an outside finals chance as a winnable run of games presents itself post-break.

Numurkah

Ladder position: Sixth

Grade: C+

Numurkah is a tricky side to grade for a raft of reasons.

The Blues recruited superbly by bringing in James Du Toit and Raguvaran Aravinthan who hit the ground running alongside skipper Tim Arnel (583 runs combined).

Despite losing frenetic run-scorer Michael Eckard, Numurkah went four games unbeaten, but hit a serious roadblock in round five and is yet to register a victory since late October.

Still, the side teeters on the edge of finals contention.

As the window for error slides closer to shutting, the Blues must recapture their earlier form and continue to do the business in the one-dayers, a format Arnel’s XI appear to be much more comfortable in.

Numurkah hasn’t won a two-day contest this season, but is 3-1-1 in the 45-over discipline, and with three more 80-over bouts left to come, there is plenty of ground to make up when playing the long game.

Old Students

Ladder position: 12th

Grade: D+

It’s been a season of ‘‘what ifs’’ for Old Students in 2023-24.

From coming within a wicket of knocking over Waaia in game one to sitting 12th at the interval, Students have been taken to school far too often for a team of its calibre.

In a story inked with frustration, the main characters who’ve plugged away and kept Students in games are Mohammed Shahid (135 runs, 16 wickets) and Felix Odell (276 runs, three wickets).

Both were crucial in round seven when Students finally broke through the chaos and planted the flag on their personal Everest: getting off the mark.

The slim 15-run win over Euroa was a reminder that the Kialla residents aren’t finished.

And after belting Central Park-St Brendan’s in the final outing before Christmas, maybe, just maybe, they’re only just getting started.

Shepparton United

Ladder position: Seventh

Grade: B+

Shepparton United may not be dux of the Haisman class, but the title of ‘‘most improved’’ must be handed to Sam Nash’s boys in blue.

Yes, United has lost its past two games by sizeable margins.

But upon closer inspection, those two teams featured in last year’s grand final, while United sat one spot off flat bottom.

Rehan Bari, rightly monikered the ‘‘Prince of Princess Park’’, has been in simply ballistic form as one of two players to venture past the 400-run mark at Christmas, while the rest of his teammates haven’t slouched one bit.

Nash has served destruction with 14 wickets, while Jake Callow and Steven Tate have stepped up to the plate with 100+ runs each.

Another win at this mark would have the Students graded as an A, no doubt.

Tatura

Ladder position: 10th

Grade: B-

Tatura captain Daniel Coombs called for gradual improvements before the curtain was pulled on the season.

By and large, this is what his squad has delivered.

The Bulldogs are nine points off the top six with three wins beneath their belts, toppling Numurkah in a high-scoring affair in the final game before the break to show the competition they’re no pushovers.

What’s the difference between last season’s Tatura and this one?

For the most part, Coombs’ young brigade is another year older — more experienced and more prepared.

Jayden Armstrong’s return from injury, paired with newcomer Chaz Cheatley’s warm introduction, makes for a face-lifted Tatura XI speckled with resolve.

Sneak a few more wins and the Bulldogs are a finals smokey, which is certainly a scenario Coombs would’ve snapped arms off to take in the pre-season.

Waaia

Ladder position: First

Grade: A

Almost perfect.

That’s really the only way to sum up Waaia’s first seven games of the season after Mooroopna marked a slight blemish on the Bombers’ form card.

Waaia has thrown down a straight flush — not quite a royal — but it’d be false to say Mitch Cleeland’s boys haven’t been brilliant at the top.

It’s also hard to deny the Bombers were shaky at the beginning.

Early games against Old Students and Karramomus, sides that should be walkovers for Waaia on paper, had banana-skin potential and the current leaders almost slipped up.

Smooth sailing followed until the Mooroopna loss, but even after their unbeaten streak snapped, the Bombers still command authority like no other.

Savvy recruitment in Reinhardt Engler, Quinton Venter and Connor Brown has held Waaia in good stead, while locals like Brayden Carey and Jesse Trower are keeping the standards high up north.