At the halfway mark of the Group 3 season, three teams appear to have one foot in the semi-finals.
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Wauchope continue to lead the way just ahead of Macleay Valley, but Wingham are the big movers in the last five weeks having registered five straight victories to shoot into competition favouritism.
The two Port Macquarie teams are a step or two behind the top three, but have time to stake their finals claims.
Port City have claimed two-straight wins to jump to fourth while the Sharks have been hammered with a growing injury list that has seen them slip to fifth on the back of three-straight losses.
Coach Ben Kirkland needs to find a way to rediscover the surprising early-season form his team showed.
The most intriguing battle of round eight takes place at Regional Stadium in Port Macquarie on Saturday when the Breakers look to make it three on the bounce while the Sharks need to stop the rot.
Taree City host ladder-leaders Wauchope, the winless Old Bar have a tough ask when they travel to Kempsey, while Wingham face a tricky battle with Forster-Tuncurry.
Coaches have named their sides below for this weekend's action.
Port City v Port Macquarie
Port City: 1. Trae Clark 2. Elia Glassie 3. Ricky Arnell 4. Luke Sinclair 5. Jarred Robbins 6. Josh Hyde 7. Adrian Daley 8. Ben Dickson 9. Matt Everett 10. Dan Dumas 11. Ethan Hyde 12. Dylan Hemsley 13. Bailey Connor Interchange: 14. Jordie Gibson 15. Tyler Hyde 16. Kurt Durbridge 17. TBA
Port Macquarie: 1. Mitch Wilbow 2. Ryan Long 3. Luke Ackroyd 4. Oli Nosworthy 5. Hayden Stuart 6. Keiran Gallagher 7. Josh Dwyer 8. Ben Read 9. Joey Cudmore 10. Mitch Smith 11. Koby Smith 12. Scott Grant 13. Kyle Ellison Interchange: 14. Zac Flanagan 15. Brandon Phelan 16. Mitch Evans 17. TBA
Kick-off times:
Women's league tag: 11.30am
18s: 12.35pm
Reserve grade: 1.50pm
First grade: 3pm
Related content:
Taree City v Wauchope
Taree City: 1. Callum Wesley, 2. Todd Northam, 3. Paul Campbell, 4. Shannon Mullay, 5. Toby De Stefano, 6. Sam Murray, 7. Dean Mills, 8. Matt Taupe, 9. Oscar Carey. 10. Will Clarke, 11. Ethan Currey, 12. Rob Mason, 13. Thomas Paulson. Interchange: 14. Harry Wallis, 15. Josh Northam.
Wauchope: 1. Tony Thomson 2. Sam Ylias 3. Ollie Pascoe 4. Beau White 5. Ged Roods 6. Nick McCabe 7. Tristan Scott 8. Tom Sheaves 9. Joss Cleal 10. Sam Androids 11. Josh Caruana 12. Mat Bird 13. Dylan Lund Interchange: 14. TBA 15. Kahlan Duncan 16. TBA 17. TBA
Kick-off times:
Women's league tag: 12.15pm
Reserve grade: 1.15pm
First grade: 2.30pm
Related content:
Macleay Valley v Old Bar
Macleay Valley: 1. Jeremy Taylor 2. Cecil Lardner 3. Dylan Adams 4. Conrad Lardner 5. 6. Stephan Blair 7. Tyreece Sines 8. Dre Barker 9. Russell Lardner 10. Richard Roberts 11. Jesse Douglas 12. Tyler Roberts 13. Chris Piper Interchange: TBA
Old Bar: 1. Joel Minihan, 2. Andrew Hills, 3. Nathan Napier, 4. Brad Hart, 5. Joseph Hinton, 6. Conor Taylor, 7. Tanna Hinton, 8. Shannon Ellem, 9. Dylan Towers, 10. Carlos Kohu-Martin, 11. Corey Sheehan, 12. Jared Wooster, 13. Jonathan Tickle. Interchange: TBA
Kick-off times:
Women's league tag: 11.30am
18s: 12.35pm
Reserve grade: 1.50pm
First grade: 3pm
Related content:
Wingham v Forster-Tuncurry
Wingham: 1. Matt Bridge, 2. Jared Gibson, 3. Kurt Lewis, 4. Tim Bridge, 5. Brodie Myer, 6. Danny Russell, 7. Mick Sullivan, 8. Blake Fraser, 9. Mitch Collins, 10. Joel Kliendienst, 11. Nick Beacham, 12. Jake Mullen, 13. Brendan Butler. Interchange: 14 Tate Grofos, 15. TBA, 16. TBA, 17. Jake Wheeler
Forster-Tuncurry: 1. Aaron Hill, 2. Winston McBride, 3. Ben Murray, 4. Corey Eason, 5. Dylan Clark, 6. Matt Wakefield, 7. Kye Burke, 8. Liam Simon, 9. Riley Glover, 10. Chris Coulton, 11. Jake Collins, 12. Max Elliott, 13. Matt Kirkland. Interchange: 14. TBA, 15. TBA, 16 Sam Whitbread, 17 Matthew Thomas
Kick off times:
Women's league tag: 11.30am
18s: 12.35pm
Reserve grade: 1.50pm
First grade: 3pm