NPC - Premiership remaining matches

[Duluth]

Team	Points	Game 9	Game 10
Auckland	30	Northland (H)	Canterbury (A)
Ta$man	29	Canterbury (H)	Otago (A)
Waikato	27	BOP (H)	Northland (A)
Wellington	24	Hawkes Bay (A)	Manawatu (H)
BOP	21	Waikato (A)	Harbour (H)
Harbour	20	Counties (H)	BOP (A)
Canterbury	19	Ta$man (A)	Auckland (H)

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Auckland
It's not impossible for Northland to upset Auckland, however Auckland would be confident of 5 points at home. Auckland may rest some guys who have had a large workload (Scrafton, Choat)

If Ta$man and Waikato lose their 9th games then Auckland finish top even if they don't beat Canterbury

Ta$man
On form they beat Canterbury
Otago away is looking more tricky than it did a few weeks ago

Waikato
BOP game massively important. They may earn a home semi if other results go their way.
Must be confident of 5 points against Northland in the last week

Wellington
The only side with 2 championship teams remaining. Need to win both to be safe in the top 4

BOP
Not favourites for either match. A chance of squeezing into the top four or relegation.

Harbour
Two awkward games but they should be favourites for both with that pack. The problem is they'll be chasing a bonus point in both. 30 points might be enough to scrape into the semis

Canterbury
Two tough matches. They'll be more confident at home in the last game.

[Bovidae]

Everything should be a little clearer after the next round.

The fact that BOP and NH play each other in the final round makes the permutations all the more interesting from Canterbury's perspective.

[Dice]

The most competitive Premiership comp to date.

Top 4, 1st place and relegation will likely not be sorted until the last week, which is only good for the comp.

Whoever finishes at the top of the table will be hoping Harbour doesn't slide into that last semifinal spot.

[Canes4life]

You obviously don’t think Wellington has a chance.

[Crucial]

@Canes4life said in NPC - Premiership remaining matches:

You obviously don’t think Wellington has a chance.

I looked at that draw and thought Wellington was well placed

[Duluth]

@Canes4life said in NPC - Premiership remaining matches:

You obviously don’t think Wellington has a chance.

Oops

Added

[Canes4life]

@Duluth Haha no worries, the way they played on Saturday I don't think they will be competing for a title anyway. They should miss relegation aswell.

[Duluth]

@Canes4life said in NPC - Premiership remaining matches:

the way they played on Saturday I don't think they will be competing for a title anyway

All the contenders look flawed

[taniwharugby]

I think if Northland were to win either of thier last 2 matches, it is v Waikato, not Auckland...we just seem to have a mental block playing Auckland, no matter how we are playing, we get pumped.

The match v Waikato is in Kaikohe too, so that will be an experience for them!

[ACT Crusader]

I can see the headline now, Canterbury snags a finals spot after consecutive bonus point victories over Money Bags and Orcs.

[Tim]

[Duluth]

@Tim

They should offer odds on relegation

[ARHS]

Surprisingly attractive odds for Counties Manukau, Canterbury, BOP and Hawkes Bay. I expect all of them to be much closer than the odds suggest.

[KiwiPie]

@Tim $23 seems a bit lean for the Bay given what we have to do to even get in the top 4, not to mention getting thumped by the 3 favourites already.

[Hooroo]

It's a pretty tight comp where the bottom of the table with two rounds to go can still win the comp

[Tim]

[Duluth]

The Waikato v BoP game is huge

Shame about the silly schedule.. it’s on at the same time as the shield match

[Tim]

@Duluth Yep, that could set up the NH/BOP game to decide a semifinal, and relegate Canterbury.

[Bovidae]

@Duluth said in NPC - Premiership remaining matches:

The Waikato v BoP game is huge

Shame about the silly schedule.. it’s on at the same time as the shield match

You can blame Canterbury for that too!

If Wellington pulls off the upset tomorrow there will be more twists and turns.

[Tim]

@Bovidae Yeah, the formula for Cantab relegation is zero points for them tonight, four for BOP, and one for Wellington.