Group 4 Rugby League’s finals fixtures have all been pushed back a week following postponed matches due to rain-affected fields across the weekend.
There was only one venue that hosted games in round 13 as Moree Boars and North Tamworth Bears faced off at Boughton Oval on Saturday.
Gunnedah Bulldogs and Boggabri Kangaroos were scheduled to meet at Kitchener Park that same day, but they were washed out, as were Sunday’s fixtures that were scheduled to be held at Dungowan Recreation Ground between the Dungowan Cowboys and Wee Waa Panthers, and Kootingal Sports Ground between the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters and Werris Creek Magpies.
Round 14 will still go ahead as scheduled this weekend, and the three postponed round 13 fixtures will then be contested the following weekend on Saturday and Sunday, August 16 and 17.
That decision has resulted in all finals matches being delayed by one week. The post-season will now begin with semi-finals on Saturday and Sunday, August 23 and 24. The preliminary finals will then be played on Saturday, August 30, which was the original grand final date, and the deciders will now be contested on Saturday, September 6.
That decision was made to ensure all sides had the chance to complete the 14-match campaign and given the tightness of some of the divisions with two rounds remaining, especially in first grade.
Moree’s victory on Saturday saw them lock in a spot in the first grade finals as they moved to 20 points, but the four teams below them ranked second to fifth are all locked on 17 points and are battling for the other three finals spots.
Two of those sides are Boggabri and Gunnedah, who will meet in the final game of the season when the rescheduled Boyde Campbell Cup day at Kitchener Park goes ahead, and the other two are Werris Creek and North Tamworth.
With Norths now having just one game left, Gunnedah can do the other top-four hopefuls a favour this weekend if they can score a home ground win against the Bears at Kitchener Park.
Boggabri and Werris Creek both have very winnable games on Saturday as the Magpies host Dugowan at David Taylor Oval while the Roos travel to Kootingal Sports Ground to take on the Roosters.
Those two sides and Gunnedah are all well aware that if they win across the weekend, a spot in the top four is theirs and they will head into the rescheduled round 13 weekend playing for second to qualify for the major semi-final and keep their home grand final hopes alive.
Shane Rampling’s Roos have improved every year since they re-entered first division back in 2018, going from the wooden spooners to grand finalists in six seasons.
They are determined to go one better this year after losing the 2024 decider to Moree, and a win this Saturday in Kootingal would go a long way towards achieving that goal.
Defending champs Moree are likely to wrap up the minor premiership at Cook Oval when they meet the winless Wee Waa Panthers in a first-versus-last clash in their last game of the season, and the Boars will be fresh for the major semi-final as they get a weekend off when the other top-four hopefuls play their round 13 games.
Meanwhile, in reserve grade, Boggabri have a chance to lock in a semi-final spot this weekend.
Ash Hynch’s men are currently ranked fourth on the ladder with 12 points. While they cannot finish any higher than fourth, they can still drop out of the four as three teams sit behind them on 10 points.
One of those teams is their round 14 opponents, the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters, who they can leave behind if they are able to beat them on Saturday, and the other two are Gunnedah and Norths, who face off against one another on Sunday.
Boggabri will almost certainly wrap up the race to fourth place if they win on Saturday given that their for and against difference is currently 108 better than Kootingal-Moonbi and Gunnedah and 282 better than Norths, so whoever does win between the Dogs and Bears would likely be unable to go ahead of the Roos if Boggabri win this weekend but lose in round 13.
The race for the minor premiership is still alive and well in the ladies’ league tag competition, with Kootingal-Moonbi on top with 20 points and Werris Creek a win behind them with 18 points with two matches remaining for both of those sides.
Boggabri and Wee Waa are at the other end of the table locked on five points, but Wee Waa have the bye in round 14 and will climb off the bottom of the ladder unless the Roos can win their first game of the season by upsetting the league leaders.
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