Plenty to play for in Women’s competition

The match between Sawtell Toormina Saints and Coffs Harbour Breakers is a head to head clash between the first and second placed teams on the ladder.

The Saints are the one team that the Breakers are yet to beat in the two seasons of the Women’s competition. Going into this match the Breakers occupy top spot on the ladder and know that a win is key to maintaining their status, whilst a loss is likely to see them drop to third. Their best performance of the season was two weeks ago in wet conditions so the forecast of several days rain should be welcomed by the ladies from Coffs.

Sawtell’s performances to date have been somewhat inconsistent which is to be expected with the number of personnel changes they have had since last year’s title triumph. Combinations are starting to be rebuilt and this match represents a great opportunity to set down a marker to the rest of the competition that Sawtell are the team to beat.

Port Macquarie surprisingly find themselves in third place, albeit by percentage only. This isn’t where they would expect to be, even at this early point in the season, and they will be looking for a strong win against Northern Beaches/Grafton to build momentum. Whilst they have dominated possession and territory in most matches this season their one area of weakness appears to be kicking for goal and they will be looking for an improved effort in this key facet of the game.

Northern Beaches/Grafton best performance of the year was at Ellem Oval so they will be happy to return there on Saturday. As the new team into the competition the “Blue Tigers” are 12 months behind the other clubs in their development but the signs are evident that the players are making gains each week. The match against Port will be another tough test for them but they won’t be found wanting in the effort stakes.

For full fixture details, click here.