Round five of the SG Ball competition signals the halfway mark of the season and there are probably still 13 teams that can still figure in the finals.
One side that is all but certain to be there is the current front runners, the Sydney Roosters.
The Roosters are one of three sides that remain unbeaten after four rounds of play however their 212 points scored is some 62 more than the second placed Rabbitohs. The Roosters backline is electric and their forward pack is laying a wonderful foundation for the sides attacking raids. There is little doubt that they appear to be the side to be at present.
Looking ahead to this weekend and the pick of the matches once again features the Roosters as they head west to take on the third placed Panthers.
The Panthers head into this one off the back of a 44-0 win over the Western Sydney Academy of Sport last round and will like their chances of rolling the Roosters at home. These two sides combined for over 100 points last weekend so expect there to be tries and plenty of them in this one.
Another intriguing clash in round five is the one between the second placed Rabbitohs and the fourth placed Steelers.
As mentioned earlier, the Bunnies have the competitions second best attack while the Steelers easily have the best defence, allowing just 42 points in their four matches played. This one promises to be a classic clash of two styles so it will be interesting to see who prevails.
Our third top eight affair this round sees the eighth placed Raiders play host to the ever improving Eels.
After a first up loss to the Panthers, the Eels have reeled off three straight wins to find themselves sitting in fifth, and a win here would probably all but seal their finals spot even with four weeks remaining. The Raiders will know a loss here would see them fall outside the eight by rounds end, however having posted a win and a draw against top eight opposition over the past fortnight, the Raiders have every right to think that they can salute at home.
Other clashes this round see the sixth placed Tigers head to Brookvale to face a Sea Eagles side still in search of their first win of 2014 while at WIN Jubilee Oval the Dragons will also be looking for win number one and the Western Sydney Academy of Sport will be trying to keep themselves in the finals hunt.
Still with a game in hand against the Bears, the Centurions will be hopeful of keeping their finals hopes alive with a win over the visiting Pirates at Morry Breen and at Belmore the Bulldogs will be keen to get a win on the board as the play host to the visiting Knights.
The Melbourne Storm could see themselves inside the eight by rounds end with a win against the visiting Bears down south and last but not least the Magpies will look to consolidate their place in the eight when they host a Sharks side looking to bounce back after their loss last weekend to the Roosters.
Once again the NSWRL twitter account @NSWRL will be providing halftime and fulltime match scores and you can follow the account by clicking here.
Click here to view all of the kick off times for this weekend’s games
Click here to view the SG Ball Cup ladder after four rounds
Click here for a full recap of all of the scores and scorers from round four
