Waves Tigers can all but seal the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership minor title when they meet Hervey Bay Seagulls in a Round 12 shoot-out at Salter Oval at 1:15pm tomorrow.
Second-placed Wallaroos can also place a mortgage on a top-three finish and a qualifying final berth if they are able to defeat Wests Panthers at 3:00pm.
Waves powered to the top of the table with a 24-20 victory over Past Brothers a fortnight ago before the fixtures break for the 47th Battalion Memorial Trophy Carnival last weekend, while Wallaroos consolidated second spot with a methodical 40-12 plucking of Hervey Bay Seagulls, and Wests Panthers were again too good for the hapless Easts Magpies, winning by the same score-line.
The Tigers are on 20 points and have an iron grip on the minor premiership as they will also play Hervey Bay again in the last round after meeting Wests and Wallaroos in their next two outings.
Roos, who are on 16 points, can still mathematically catch Waves if they win their last four games, with clashes against the Magpies, Tigers, and Panthers in their run home, but they would also need Waves to lose three matches – which is highly unlikely given their form and their draw.
Brothers are third on 12 points, two ahead of Wests, with Hervey Bay and Easts both on two points and the Seagulls ahead on net points differential -290 to -308.
Reigning champions Brothers will be desperate to snap a three-match losing streak when they suit up against Easts which also kicks off at 1:15pm tomorrow.
Victory would put them in the box seat to clinch a place in the Qualifying Final before their remaining matches against Seagulls, Panthers and Magpies.
Roos provided four players in the Bundaberg Battalion team, electrifying five-eighth Jackson Gouge, second rower Kyle Knight, and Brothers enterprising hooker Bailey Robertson and lethal lock Jesse Robertson.
But it was excitement machine teenage winger Emmanuel Iboro who stole the show in their last-start Fraser Coast showdown with the Bay with four tries.
However Robertson is the leading try scorer in the competition with 13 so far, one more than Waves’ centre Layton Chambers who is the joint-leading points scorer with Panthers’ Chris Robinson, each with 114, after he kicked three conversions against the Brethren to be a match winner in a game in which each side notched four tries.
Wests were led by young second rower Zander Kerr against Easts who racked up three tries, before also excelling for the Bears at the Battalion.
The Panthers should be close to full strength tomorrow with players and coaches returning from suspension, and they will be out to reverse a 34-24 defeat at the hands of Roos on June 15 when frontrower Seth Laherty played a leading hand for the Maryborough club with a double.
Brothers have not won since their 58-12 demolition of Easts that day, subsequently losing to Waves twice and Roos, while the Tigers could have another field day after putting the Seagulls to the sword 52-6 with a three-try haul to winger Martin Powell.
