Narrabri Touch’s mixed competition finals series to begin on Monday

Narrabri Touch’s 2022 mixed competition regular season wrapped up on Monday with round 13 games, and all teams have now been graded ahead of the four-round finals series that will begin this Monday, May 23.

In round 13, competition heavyweights Agies continued their undefeated run with an 18-0 victory against last-placed Kerrigans to finish the regular season campaign with 13 wins from as many rounds.

They won four of those matches via forfeit and were victorious in the nine games they played by a combined 85-28, and their official for and against when the forfeits were factored in was 105 and 28. That saw them finish with a competition-best difference of 77.

Agies won its round 13 game by the largest winning margin so far this year as the side broke the record it set itself back in round six on Monday, March 14, when it defeated Cougars 17-1.

Agies’ closest rivals, the Sprayerbarn Spinouts, finished the regular season in second place on the ladder after they scored their 11th win of the year on Monday by defeating Hounddogs 8-3.

There was movement in the top five, with Hammer Time falling from third place down to fifth after losing its final-round match 6-4 against Lumberjacks (and Jills).

That allowed Tapscott Pumpers to leapfrog Hammer Time into third and Tradies and Ladies to rise up the table to fourth after those sides both ended the regular season with wins.

Tapscott Pumpers downed Cougars 7-3, while Tradies and Ladies edged out TRTW 6-5.

The three teams ranked from third to fifth all finished the season on 33 points after they won 10 matches and lost three. Points difference totals determined their final ladder positions.

Win Or Booze capitalised on TRTW’s loss to jump from seventh to sixth as it scored a 13-4 victory against the Witty Wizards in round 13, which was the side’s seventh of the season.

TRTW finished seventh, edging out eighth-placed Lumberjacks (and Jills) by a point after both sides won six of their 13 matches. TRTW had a draw and six losses, but Lumberjacks (and Jills) lost all of the seven games they did not win.

Who’s Shout entered Monday’s final round in ninth place, which was the position it finished in despite scoring its fifth victory of the year when it beat RSL Guys and Gals 6-0.

The teams ranked in the bottom five from 10th to 14th were Hounddogs, Cougars, Witty Wizards, RSL Guys and Gals, and Kerrigans.

Narrabri Touch held a committee meeting on Wednesday night where the 14 teams were split into three grades.

A-grade will consist of the top five, which includes Agies, Sprayerbarn Spinouts, Tapscott Pumpers, Tradies and Ladies and Hammer Time.

The next four teams, TRTW, Win Or Booze, Lumberjacks (and Jills) and Who’s Shout, make up B-grade, and then Hounddogs, Cougars, Witty Wizards, RSL Guys and Gals, and Kerrigans are the five C-grade teams.

All teams will be in action on Monday, May 23, but not all will compete in finals games.

The A-grade and C-grade finals series will both begin on Monday, but the B-grade teams will not play finals games until Monday, May 30.

In A-grade and C-grade, the highest-ranked side in both of those divisions will automatically advance to week two of the finals series, while the next two highest-ranked sides in each division will meet in a qualifying final, and the two lowest-ranked sides in each division will meet in an elimination final.

The winner of the respective qualifying finals will play the top-ranked side in their divisions in week two of the finals series, and the loser of the respective qualifying finals will meet the winner of the elimination final in their divisions.

In the second week of the finals on Monday, May 30, all three divisions will play major and minor semi-finals, which will be followed by preliminary finals on June 6 and then the grand final night at Dangar Park, the home of Narrabri Rugby Club, under lights on Friday, June 17.

Major semi-final winners will advance straight through to grand final night, and the major semi-final losers will have a second crack at earning a grand final spot when they challenge the minor semi-final winners in the week three preliminary finals.

The losers of the minor semi-finals in week two will be eliminated.

Although the top-ranked teams in A-grade and C-grade and all four B-grade teams will not play finals matches in week one of the series on Monday, they will still be in action in social matches.

The full draw and referee appointments for Monday, May 23, are as follows:

6pm: Desk duty – Emily McFetridge.

A-grade qualifying final on field one – Sprayerbarn Spinouts v Tapscott Pumpers (referees – Tom Nolan and Ken Nolan).

Social game on field two – Agies v TRTW (referees – Jakeb Nipperess and Linton Grumley).

C-grade elimination final on field three – Narrabri RSL Guys and Gals v Kerrigans (referees – Nat Smith and Nathan Dicks).

C-grade qualifying final on field four – Witty Wizards v Cougars (referees – Scott Purcell and Blake Hilderson).

6.35pm: Desk duty – Steph Lilliebridge.

A-grade elimination final on field one – Tradies and Ladies v Hammer Time (referees – Brendon Warnock and Cathy Conomos).

Social game on field two – Who’s Shout v Hounddogs (referees – David Toomey and Cassidy Staines).

Social game on field three – Win or Booze v Lumberjacks (and Jills) (referees – Jydon Hill and Mereka Gleeson).