Newtown the team to beat
Lara
To play: North Shore, Colac, Grovedale, Leopold, Lara Will have no issues handling North Shore, Grovedale, or Lara, and had no major difficulties when it met Colac and Leopold earlier in the year. Should finish a fifth straight year undefeated and will be the raging favourites to take the premiership. Geelong West, North Shore, Lara, Grovedale, South Barwon A lot will depend on player availability but it will have its best players this week and against South Barwon. Will finish inside top three but last week’s loss to Newtown proved there’s work to be done if it is to challenge for the flag. Leopold, St Mary’s, North Shore, Colac, St Albans Ruby Horton’s absence has hurt — as shown in the loss to Bell Park — and her presence will be a welcome return. Can’t see the Swans losing their spot in the top three, which means back-to-back games against St Albans awaits. Grovedale, Newtown, Geelong West, South Barwon, Bell Park Has lost three matches by four goals or less in its past six games, so could easily be higher up the ladder. Last week’s win over Leopold was reward for effort in the past month, and the Round 18 clash with Bell Park now looms as a mouth-watering contest. St Joseph’s, Leopold, St Mary’s, North Shore, Colac Superb win over South Barwon — the first in the club’s history — has given it a genuine bid for a finals berth. The Dragons will account for North Shore so their destiny is in their own hands with four other games against teams fighting to take fifth spot from them. South Barwon, Bell Park, St Joseph’s, Newtown, North Shore Has its work cut out for it with matches against South Barwon and Newtown, but back-toback games against Bell Park and St Joseph’s will be season defining. Win those and finals remain a chance. Lose and it’s year over. Bell Park, Lara, Leopold, St Mary’s, Geelong West Riley Richardson’s side has had its issues in 2017 but despite that they are still in with a chance to make top five. Will start as an even-money chance in three games, but the availability of Tori Honner, Molly Jovic, Emily Post and Kailah-Mae Keepen for the Lara, South Barwon, Bell Park, St Joseph’s, Grovedale From fifth to eighth after a loss to Geelong West last week, but strong percentage keeps finals contention alive. Will be too strong for Lara and Grovedale and if it wins two of the remaining three games it could see them back in the top five. St Mary’s, St Joseph’s, St Albans, Geelong West, Newtown The loss to Grovedale last week effectively ended its hopes of playing finals. Jo Chambers has done a great job in her first year developing young players, but the likelihood is it probably has one last shot at a win. The goal would be to remain competitive for the last five weeks of the year. St Albans, Grovedale, Colac, Lara, St Joseph’s Was aiming to be a finals contender in the pre-season but injuries to key players and other factors has meant the Giants have rarely been able to play at full strength. Still, as the win against St Mary’s last week showed, it can have an impact in the run home. Colac, Geelong West, Newtown, St Albans, St Mary’s Mel Bragg’s girls were finally rewarded for a tough year with a win over Lara last week, but it gets difficult from here. Grovedale would be pleased with the progress some of its juniors have made in 2017, and Bragg can be pleased with the way the Tigers have persisted all season. Newtown, St Albans, South Barwon, Bell Park, Leopold Probably the toughest run home of all teams, with games against the top three teams in the next three weeks and five of the top six to finish. It means finding a win in her first season becomes a very difficult task for Renee Scott, who has signed on for a second year in 2018.