LOCAL cricketers are currently putting their feet up, enjoying a well-earned break during Christmas and the new year after playing out the first six rounds of the Whitney Cup season. It has been another outstanding summer for cricket up to this point and the competition is shaping as one of the most even in recent times. With more than half the season now completed and a crucial final four rounds to be played out, the Daily Liberal's Nick Guthrie takes a look at the ladder, each side and boldly predicts what will happen from here on out.
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RSL-COLTS
Position: First (67.32 points)
The season did not begin well for the defending premiers with a heavy loss to CYMS but since then it had been much more like the Colts side people had come to know during the past decade. The return of Greg Buckley boosted the confidence of a side already stacked with talent and his form, combined with regular input from the rest of the side, soon had them back on top.
The win over Souths in round five was a big one as it gave them the psychological edge going forward .?While they had the depth of batting talent no other team did, questions persist about their bowling line-up.
Captain Chris Morton admitted himself Colts did not have an attack that was going to blast away an opponent but their spin trio of Buckley, Wes Giddings and Marty Jeffrey had ensured runs were very hard to come by.
Without a doubt the competition favourite, if Tim Cox returns to add a bit of steel to their bowling line-up then anything but a premiership would be seen as failure for the men in red.
SOUTH DUBBO
Position: Second (66.06 points)
The season began with everyone saying this was the summer the Hornets would return to the pinnacle of the Whitney Cup. Adding names like Mitch Bower, Will Lindsay and Greg Rummans to a side already containing the talents of Tim Berry, Matt Finlay and young gun Henry Railz, the side looked every piece a premiership winner.
With the first half of the season done, representative commitments are finished, meaning the likes of Bower and Lindsay can turn out regularly for Souths here on but Berry's move to Cowra is a blow.
While he may get back for the odd game, Berry will not be there every week and his consistent new-ball bowling will be missed as long as he is not on the field.
In Bower, the competition's leading run-scorer with 417 runs, Souths have a fine new captain and still just have far too much talent in their line-up not to be in the mix come finals time.
Arguably the only side that can defeat Colts, it would be a surprise not to see the current top two there on grand final day.
NEWTOWN
Position: Third (62.59 points)
After breaking through last season and making the grand final, there was a feeling of uncertainty around the Tigers this season but they had proved once again they could mix it with anyone in the competition.
Tom Skinner's return has worked wonders, taking some of the bowling workload off his brothers Mat and Steve, while he has also taken crucial wickets when needed.
The Skinners continue to be the life and blood of the side but in Dan Holland, Wayne Dunlop and youngster Tom Barber they have some very handy sidekicks.
Dunlop and Holland have each scored centuries this season while the three Skinner brothers are all among the Whitney Cup's top 10 leading wicket-takers.
Depth is the only question going forward but if the Tigers' core group continue to fire then the Tigers are a certainty to be there again come finals time.
MACQUARIE
Position: Fourth (60.89 points)
Macquarie have been the most frustrating side in the competition up to this point. For all their brilliance in chasing down scores of more than 280 twice, they have also failed twice when chasing targets less than 105.
That is currently the difference between them sitting in a finals spot and sitting in fourth.
The evergreen Jason Green is again leading the way and his two centuries have him only behind Mitch Bower in terms of runs scored so far this summer.
Ben Taylor's arrival and Jeremy Dickson's return has given the Blues the most successful new-ball partnership up to this point with the pair taking 34 wickets between them.
Add Keiran Brien, Dan Medway and Ed Haylock to the mix and there is a team that should arguably be doing better than they are.
If they can find some consistency there is no reason why they can not pinch third spot but the round eight clash with Newtown looms as a crucial one.
RUGBY
Position: Fifth (53.26 points)
There is currently a bigger gap between fourth and fifth then there is between first and fourth.
That gave the indication Rugby and the sixth-placed CYMS had struggled to keep pace up to this point, but in the final round before Christmas Rugby fired and showed they could still cause a stir.
A win over Newtown put some confidence back in the camp and the fact they rolled the Tigers for 124 was proof they did not rely totally on Jordan Moran, even though he was vital in the run chase.
Moran has been one of the competition's best so far, scoring 349 runs from four innings at an incredible average of 116.33 while in Adrian Carey Rugby have a genuine match-winning leg-spinner.
If Moran continues to pummel opposition bowling attacks then he and his can upset some of them teams above them but at this stage it feels Rugby have to much work to do to make the finals.
CYMS
Position: Sixth (51.43 points)
Things looked great for the Cougars after one round. Top of the table after just defeating the defending premiers.
But that is where the success has ended this season with one washout and four losses following.
Consistency has been the big problem with a win and valiant loss to Colts paired with convincing losses against Newtown and Rugby.
In Ben Strachan, Ryan Medley and Stuart Naden the side have genuine match-winners while juniors Ben Knaggs and Thomas Nelson have announced themselves as Whitney Cup players of some class this season.
Strachan is key with the new ball but he is no certainty to be a regular after Christmas, meaning a lot of pressure is put on the rest of the attack, while in terms of batting the Cougars have not scored more than 250 since round one.
The talent is there but a finals spot seems out of reach for CYMS again in 2014-15.