The BRL U13JA1 competition is drawing to a fascinating close with the results in Round 20 meaning incredibly that every game in the final round will have a bearing on the makeup of the semi finals!!!
Last Friday night Logan Brothers (60-16) and Arana (38-10) had comfortable wins over Wynnum and Aspley respectively keeping them locked on competition points in third place - Logan drew further away on for and against however, effectively dashing any hopes Arana had of overhauling them in that area. Two very interesting results on Saturday:
* Souths were far too strong for Holy Spirit, who have now lost 5 straight, and Souths' 42-16 victory saw them leapfrog Spirit into 5th place; and
* Redcliffe broke Redlands 11 game winning streak with a solid 36-22 victory, after leading 18-10 at half-time. This is the first time in 4 meetings this year that Redcliffe have been able to get over the top of Redlands, and this now sees them snapping at Redlands heals in the race for the minor premiership.
The current standings for teams in semi contention (with each team's remaining game) are listed below - Aspley on 10 points and Wynnum 0 are the two teams out of semi contention:
Team Pts F-A To Play
Redlands 34pts +404 Logan at Logan, 12.45pm Sun 26/8
Redcliffe 33pts +413 Souths at home, 7.15pm Fri 24/8
Logan Br. 25pts +227 Redlands at home, 12.45pm Sun 26/8
Arana 25pts +138 Wynnum at home, 8.00pm Fri 24/8
Souths 17pts -158 Redcliffe away, 7.15pm Fri 24/8
H.Spirit 16pts -130 Aspley at home, 8.30pm Fri 24/8
This leaves a large number of scenarios which are possible, including a playoff for fifth. Even if there are no draws there are still 6 possible orders in which the teams could finish, (with even this assuming Arana would not be able to overhaul Logan Bros for and agst advantage if both teams finished equal). I will do my best here to summarise the possibilities!!
Firstly some "single game" result potential impacts this weekend, which will lock in some positions irrespective of the result of other games:
1. If Redlands beat Logan, Redlands will be Minor Premiers, with Redcliffe 2nd.
2. If Souths beat Redcliffe, Souths will finish 5th, Holy Spirit 6th and Redlands will be Minor Premiers with Redcliffe 2nd.
3. If Logan beat Redlands, Logan will finish 3rd (assuming Arana cannot make up the 91 pt for and agst deficit!!) and Arana 4th.
There is no doubt the Redlands/Logan and Redcliffe/Souths games will be "rippers" with so much at stake. Unfortunately Arana will have to beat Wynnum and wait for the other results to find out their fate. With the Redlands/Logan on Sunday they will each know exactly what they have to do to finish where.
Here are the 6 "top 5" orders possible without even considering draws and winners required to achieve them (remember first week of semis is 2v3 and 4v5 with minor premiers having a weekend off):
IF GAME WINNERS ARE: FINISHING ORDER AND GAMES
Logan v Redcliffe Arana v Spirit v NEXT WEEK will be:
Redlands v Souths Wynnum Aspley 1 (bye) 2 3 4 5
1. Redlands Redcliffe Arana Spirit Redlands, Redcliffe v Arana, Logan v Spirit.
2. Redlands Either Arana Aspley Redlands, Redcliffe v Arana, Logan v Souths.
or Redlands Souths Arana Spirit
3. Redlands Redcliffe Wynnum Spirit Redlands, Redcliffe v Logan, Arana v Spirit.
4. Logan Souths Either Either Redlands, Redcliffe v Logan, Arana v Souths.
or Redlands Either Wynnum Aspley
or Redlands Souths Wynnum Either
5. Logan Redcliffe Either Spirit Redcliffe, Redlands v Logan, Arana v Spirit.
6. Logan Redcliffe Either Aspley Redcliffe, Redlands v Logan, Arana v Souths.
In addition to the above, if Redcliffe draw and Redlands lose, or Redlands draw and Redcliffe win, the order would be Redcliffe, Redlands, Arana, Logan, then Souths,Spirit, or a play-off for 5th depending on other results. If Spirit draw and Souths lose, or Souths draw and Spirit win, a play off for fifth will be necessary!!
Hopefully this all makes thing clear (probably not)!!!!! What it adds up to is a very exciting end to 21 rounds of great footy in this competition!!!
(ps. don't forget to vote in the Arana poll with your guesses for 1st, 3rd and 5th - should be easy with all this help!!!)
