There’s a play-off at Manly this weekend
With one day’s play remaining before the finals, three sides – Manly, Sydney University and St George – are certain of playing on into autumn. All three clubs enjoyed wins in Round 14. Ben Bryant (85) and Ryan Hadley (5-31) were the main difference between Manly and University of NSW, Damien Mortimer’s clutch innings of 89 not out guided the Students home against Easts, and spinners Joshua Moors and Raf Macmillan undermined Sutherland after the Sharks had reached 1 for 179. Manly (61.9) and Sydney University (60) will meet in a virtual play-off for the minor premiership at Manly Oval – although if University wins and St George (59) nabs a bonus-point win, the Saints would finish first through a superior quotient. After that, it gets interesting, and messy. Parramatta (54) jumped into fourth spot with an emphatic outright win over Mosman, and will remain in the six if they beat Sutherland, which they’d expect to do. If the Sharks spring an upset, though, Parramatta could theoretically miss the finals altogether if Northern District (50) beat St George, Randwick-Petersham (48) beat the shellshocked Mosman, and Penrith (47) beat Campbelltown with a bonus point. Northern District came agonisingly close to an outright win over Bankstown, but remain on 50 points, so they face the tough assignment of beating St George – if not, they’ll need four of the five sides behind them to lose. Randwick-Petersham faces a similar equation – if they can’t beat Mosman, they’ll need all of the sides behind them to lose. And for Penrith (47), University of NSW (47), Bankstown (45) and Sydney (45), it’s simple: win, and hope that one or both of Northern District and Randwick-Petersham loses.
Manly are minor premiers in Seconds
Manly has commanding lead in the club championship that you’d expect from the club on top of the ladder in both Firsts and Seconds, and the lead in Second Grade is so dominant that the Blues could turn up at the wrong university on Saturday and still be minor premiers by a street. Manly walloped University of NSW in Round 14, despite collapsing to 4 for 10 on the first morning of the game. They’re on 64, 10 points clear of Northern District and St George. There is no possible universe in which one of Northern District and St George misses the finals, but they meet each other in the last round in what is, effectively, a playoff for second. Mosman (51), Gordon (50) and Bankstown (49) fill out the six: Mosman needs to beat Randwick-Petersham, Gordon needs the points against Wests and Bankstown must beat Hawkesbury. But if any of them should stumble, Easts (46), North Sydney (46) or Sydney University (44) could jump in to the six – although the Students would need to beat Manly to do it. They’ll be regretting a tight draw against Easts last Saturday, when the Dolphins held on with the last pair at the crease.
Three sides are safe in Thirds
It's a similar picture in Third Grade, where the top three – Parramatta (65), Randwick-Petersham (64) and Manly (61) are heading for the finals. UTS North Sydney (57) also looks pretty safe, although if you’re creative enough you can construct scenarios in which they miss out – but they all involve being bowled out for seven, while other teams get bonus points. The pressure is on St George (54) and Penrith (51), although Penrith will fancy their chances against a winless Campbelltown side. If either Saints or the Panthers trip up, they could miss out to Easts (50), Bankstown (50) or Wests (49). Wests hauled themselves into contention in Round 14 by blasting out Campbelltown for 51 and 62, with Dean Jones grabbing 6-19.
Fourth Grade is a cluster
Manly – again – ends the Fourth Grade season in a dominant position, on top (with 70) by 13 points and with an absurdly good quotient, and that despite a loss to University of NSW in Round 14. Parramatta (57) and North Sydney (56) will join them in the finals. But then it’s tighter. Gordon (50) is fourth, but if they lose to Wests (45), the Magpies will pass them from tenth spot. But that won’t guarantee Wests a place in the finals, because there are four sides (St George, Easts, Bankstown and Sydney) on 46, as well as Bankstown on 45. St George may consider themselves slightly unfortunate to have had their chances dented by one Mr Stuart Clark of Sutherland, who (with 32 and 4-12) dominated a low-scoring Round 14 game in which, for a change, Stephen Wark was not the only player over forty-five on the ground. Anyway, there are too many permutations to contemplate here, especially as none of the contenders plays against another. We’re not in the predictions business, but it’s quite possible that four or five teams could end up with 52 points, and would then need to be spilt on quotients.
The Bears lead in Fifths
UTS North Sydney (70) is well placed to take the minor premiership in Fifth Grade, holding a six point lead over Manly, and needing only to beat 17th-placed University of NSW. The Bears survived a scare in Round 14, holding off Blacktown to win a low-scoring war of attrition in which only 203 runs were scored in 128 overs. In fact, only one finals spot is up for grabs in the last round: St George (59), Northern District (59) and Parramatta (53) will all play on. Easts (45) hold sixth spot, but they’re vulnerable to Sutherland (45), Mosman (44) and Sydney University (44). Even Blacktown (40) could pass the Dolphins if they beat Easts on Saturday.