Katrina Fanning Shield : Round 14 Preview

The Blumers Lawyers Katrina Fanning Shield regular season will come to an end this weekend, headlined with the Goulburn City Bulldogs v Queanbeyan Blues clash in the curtain raiser at GIO Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Goulburn City Bulldogs vs Queanbeyan Blues, GIO Stadium, Sunday 14th August, 12:00pm

The final match of the Katrina Fanning Shield season shapes up to be one of the best, where Goulburn take on the Queanbeyan Blues in the curtain raiser to the Canberra Raiders clash on Sunday afternoon.

Both sides currently sit in the top four with two competition points separating them.

A victory for the Blues would mean they leapfrog the Bulldogs due to their impressive for and against.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have won eight of the past nine games and are in blistering form. Their round 13 clash against Harden was postponed but prior to that they defeated the Rams 12-6 in a tight contest.

Similarly, the Blues are in great form having won their past four matches coming into this one. They will be keen to avenge themselves after going down to the Bulldogs 16-12 back in round five.

The crowd at GIO Stadium will love this top four matchup as both sides fight it out for third place.

The first-placed Yass Magpies have their bye week this weekend and will return to action in the finals as the team to beat.

Harden Worhawks vs Tuggeranong Bushrangers, McLean Oval, Saturday 13th August, 11:45am

The sixth-placed Bushrangers will travel to Harden to take on the Worhawks hoping to have one last shot at making the top five come finals.

Due to the Katrina Fanning Shield finals format of two separate finals series', Tuggeranong will need to win by at least 28 points to have a chance of fighting it out for the shield.

This could be very likely considering the two sides clashed in the wash out round only a few weeks ago with Tuggeranong coming away with a 38-4 victory.

For Harden it has been a difficult season only registering the one win against Boomanulla back in round six. The club will be keen to finish the regular season with a win and look to ride that momentum into the finals.

Boomanulla Raiders vs UC Stars, Boomanulla Oval, Saturday 13th August, 1:30pm

The Boomanulla Raiders will host the UC Stars in round 14, looking to end the regular season on a high with their first win of the year.

It’s been a tough season for Boomanulla who have unfortunately lost all of their ten games. But there may be some hope for the Raiders with the Stars struggling as well, currently on a six-game losing streak.

However, the Stars have shown they can beat Boomanulla wracking-up a 30-6 back in round two at Raiders Belconnen. 

This could potentially be a sneak peak at a finals matchup so both sides will be determined to get the upper hand this weekend in case of a meeting further down the road.

South Coast United vs Woden Valley Rams, Mackay Park, Sunday 14th August, 11am

South Coast United will host the second-placed Rams at Mackay Park this Sunday with plenty on the line as a loss could leave the door open for the Bushrangers to take their fifth place spot.

South Coast have been in some strong form as of late winning three of their past four games with the only loss at the hands of Woden Valley during the wash out round.

Their potent attack has been a weapon for them all season long, averaging 15 points a match.

Woden on the other hand are coming off the back of a six-point loss against Goulburn in round 12, where they will be keen to get back in the winners column.

The Rams have the third ranked for and against in the competition with a positive 212 score, where they have proved themselves to be a strong defensive team.

There will be plenty on the line for both teams in this matchup with final's spots on the line.