In a new addition to the Daily Liberal's coverage of the RSL-Whitney Cup this season, each week we'll look at some of the major talking points coming out of the first grade competition in the Quick Singles series.
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It might be good, it might be bad, it might just be something we find funny. Either way, it's more of a look at what's happening in one of the bush's strongest club competitions.
Here's what caught our attention on Saturday.
FINALS RACE TIGHTENS UP
Macquarie, CYMS, and then Colts or Newtown.
If you asked any general RSL-Whitney Cup fan who will make this season's finals before the Christmas break, it's almost guaranteed that would be the answer.
And with good reason.
Macquarie and CYMS set the pace in the first half of the season and it's still likely both will make the finals. They're sides loaded with talent and both have a handy mix of experience and youth.
But one week back after the break and the race for the top three looks a little more interesting.
Macquare suffered a shock loss to Rugby in a No. 2 Oval thriller on Saturday while CYMS was ground down by a Colts side which refused to lay down.
Combine those results with Newtown's commanding win over South Dubbo and suddenly it doesn't seem so simple for the top two.
Macquarie remains two points clear of CYMS at the top and there's a further five points back to Colts, and then seven more to Newtown.
It might seem like a big gap but with two-day cricket returning soon it could all change very quickly.
Especially when you consider CYMS won just two games after Christmas last season following a blistering start to the campaign.
The Cougars will be keen to avoid that again with Colts and Newtown breathing down their neck.
TIGERS' CHANGE IS ON THE MONEY
"He robbed me of a 50."
Any tailender who finishes not out has likely said that at some point. It's part of the role.
But Lee Price had a real claim to say that heading into the second half of the season.
Regularly one of Newtown's best bowlers this season, Price got his chance to bat up the order on Saturday.
And he made it count.
Price opened the batting against Souths and made 57 at the top of thew order, sending his side on the way to a commanding win.
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While it might have seemed like the Tigers were changing things up and having some fun against a battling Souths side, Price's switch wasn't undeserved.
While he's one often to poke fun at himself and state he's struggling with the bat, Price had shown some real fight each time he'd had the willow in hand this season.
Price has batted at eight or lower in seven of his 11 digs this season, across the Whitney Cup and McDonald's Megahit, but he had been not out eight times.
Robbed of runs, so it seems.
Price took his chance and got to raise the bat on Saturday.
Opening isn't a position totally foreign to Price, as he started as an opening batsmen as CYMS when he was a youngster just working his way into the top grade early last decade.
Price made his return to the cricket field last season and was a part of Newtown's RSL-Whitney Cup-winning side and this summer he's taken on a bigger role.
He chimed in with three wickets on Saturday as Newtown proved its still well in the race for the top three.
WHEELER MAKES THE WHEELS FALL OFF
A Rugby side without influential captain Jacob Hill taking on a competition-leading Macquarie side.
Not many gave Rugby a chance.
Fewer would have backed the men in sky blue at the halfway point in the game after they had been knocked over for 145.
But they got the job done, downing the Blues 32 runs for just a third win of the season.
There was some unlikely heroes as well.
Teenager Lawson Shepherd bagged three wickets with the new ball before Ben Wheeler did the damage late on.
That's right, Ben Wheeler.
The same Ben Wheeler who had bowled a grand total of two overs since the second round of the season.
Wheeler took 3/19 from six overs while Jakke Gardiner also bagged three wickets as Macquarie incredibly lost its last eight wickets for just 29 runs.
It marked just the third time this season the Blues had been bowled out in a game.
The first time they were bowled out it was for a commendable 235 while they were later bowled out for just 180 by CYMS but still went on to win that game.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
