With three rounds to go in the Geelong & District Netball league home and away season, Justin Flynn takes a look at what the final ladder could look like.
THOMSON
Position: 1st, 14-0-1
To come: Winchelsea (away), East Geelong (home), Bannockburn (away)
The Tigers are a game and a half clear in top spot and face tough games against Winch and East Geelong. Beat the Eagles and the minor premiership and a rest in the first week of finals is all but sewn up.
EAST GEELONG
Position 2nd, 12-1-2
To come: Bell Post Hill (away), Thomson (away), Inverleigh (home)
The Eagles are half a game clear of Belmont and Winchelsea, but are no guarantee to finish with the double chance. They could finish as high as 1st and will start favourites against the Panthers and Inverleigh and should do enough to finish 2nd or 3rd.
BELMONT LIONS
Position 3rd, 12-0-3
To come: Inverleigh (home), Corio (away), Geelong West Giants (home)
The Lions should be too strong in their final two outings and a win against Inverleigh should be enough to finish 3rd, although percentage may come into play.
WINCHELSEA
Position 4th, 12-0-3
To come: Thomson (home), Bannockburn (home), North Geelong (away)
Winch will likely win its last two games with this week’s clash against Thomson a huge one. Win that and 3rd is a real possibility, especially if Belmont drops a game. There’s only about 7 percent separating the two teams, so winning and losing margins could well decide who gets the double chance.
INVERLEIGH
Position 5th, 9-1-4
To come: Belmont Lions (away), Bell Post Hill (home), East Geelong (away)
The Hawks won’t miss finals, and realistically can’t finish as high as 5th. Technically, Inverleigh could miss out if it loses all three and Werribee Centrals and/or Anakie win all three games, but that is highly unlikely.
WERRIBEE CENTRALS
Position 6th, 7-0-8
To come: Corio (home), Geelong West Giants (away), Anakie (home)
Everything needs to go right for the Centurions to play finals, although they do have a relatively good run home. They are relying on Inverleigh to go on a losing streak and have left it too late.
ANAKIE
Position: 7th, 7-0-8
To come: Bannockburn (away), North Geelong (home), Werribee Centrals (away)
The Roos have done well to win seven games in their rebuild, but are relying on winning all three and Inverleigh to slip up. The penultimate round will be interesting with Anakie travelling down the freeway to Werribee.
BELL POST HILL
Position: 8th, 5-1-9
To come: East Geelong (home), Inverleigh (away), Corio (home)
The Panthers will start favourites in one of their finals three games – against Corio. They will be aiming for an upset from the other two matches and are capable of springing a surprise on their day.
BANNOCKBURN
Position: 9th, 5-0-9
To come: Anakie (home), Winchelsea (away), Thomson (home)
The Tigers will be ultra keen to win at home this weekend and can climb a spot on the ladder in doing so. They will be underdogs in the final two rounds.
CORIO
Position: 10th, 3-0-12
To come: Werribee Centrals (away), Belmont Lions (home), Bell Post Hill (away)
The Devils were always going to struggle a bit with the departures of several star players. Still, they will be right amongst it in all three encounters and another win would not completely surprise.
GEELONG WEST GIANTS
Position: 11th, 1-1-13
To come: North Geelong (away), Werribee Centrals (home), Belmont Lions (away)
The Giants have the chance to post their second win of the season when they meet North Geelong this week and then have two tough assignments with Werribee Centrals being their last home game of the season.
NORTH GEELONG
Position: 12th, 0-0-15
To come: Geelong West Giants (home), Anakie (away), Winchelsea (home)
The Pies will be going all out for that long-awaited win this weekend and have a terrific chance to break the ice against the Giants at home.
