Tomorrow is the final round of games in the seeding rounds and next week the trophy competitions will begin in all grades in the Southland club competition.
The top premier grade has consisted of seven teams but, after this weekend, Midlands, which has yet to win a game, will drop down.
It was always going to be tough for Winton-based Midlands which is mixing it against six regulars in the top grade.
Midlands has shown plenty of ticker and put some points on the board, chalking up a couple of bonus points and running defending champion Woodlands close a couple of weeks ago before Woodlands won 17-7.
Pirates Old Boys has swept all before it this season and is just one point short of a scoring the maximum with 29 points from six games. It takes on second-placed Blues which has 21 points.
Eastern Northern Barbarians and Marist are both on 20 points. The Barbarians will host Woodlands while Marist takes on Star.
Woodlands has 19 points but is a long way away from the form which enabled it to win last year’s final by 50 points. It has lost some players and that experience has been hard to replace.
Star has 13 points and will be looking to gain some confidence with an impressive display against Marist tomorrow.
The teams move through to the Galbraith Shield round next week. The top qualifier, which will be Pirates Old Boys as it cannot be caught, will take 10 points through to the Galbraith Shield round.
The teams next in finishing order take eight, six, four, two and zero points through to the competition round.
It is a straight round-robin format , followed by semifinals and then a final at Rugby Park Stadium on July 17.
The next grade down will consist of six teams and will play for the Ack Soper Shield. The bottom six teams will contest the Gerald Dermody Shield.
The division two competition will have the top six teams play for the C J Soper Cup, the middle four will play for the Life Members Trophy and the bottom four will contest the Past Presidents Cup.
