Group Three chairman Wayne Bridge said the relative unpredictability of the competition has been among the highlights of the opening six rounds. There's no football in Group Three this weekend.

"Look at Wingham, they beat the Sharks last weekend and they've also beaten Port City,'' Mr Bridge said.

"In between those games they were beaten easily by Old Bar. There's always a bit of doubt about how games are going to go and that's a good thing.''

Mr Bridge said the fact the Pirates have emerged as genuine premiership contenders is also a highlight.

Northern clubs have dominated Group Three since 2008. Forster-Tuncurry, (2011), was the last southern team to win the title.

"Wingham's also been competitive. Unfortunately it looks as though Taree City and Forster might struggle, but to be fair, we have five or maybe six sides who could win the comp.''

Wauchope sits on top of the ladder and have yet to drop a game, although the Blues were held to a draw by Port Macquarie. Wingham ended Port's unbeaten run last Saturday at Wingham in the upset of the year.

Mr Bridge said two pre-season concerns, referee and under 18 numbers, improved once the competition started.

"We were worried about Taree City and Wingham (under 18s), but they have better numbers now. The Bulls have been competitive and Wingham won their first game last weekend,'' he said.

Mr Bridge conceded the group's not flush with referees.

"But it's looking a lot better than it was,'' he added.

"Our top referees, like Clayton Thomas and Bayley Dimarco, are young blokes, so that's a promising sign for the future. And there's strong competition among the refs for the top job and that's a good thing as well.''

After this weekend clubs face 11 consecutive matches in the run-in to finals. Clubs voted to play a 17 rounds season this year, starting in April and ending in early September. However, the March floods resulted in the competition kicking off on May 1, with the grand final on September 26 - the latest finish in the group's history.

Mr Bridge agreed struggling sides may struggle to avoid forfeits towards the end of year.

"I'm hoping not, but I guess that's a possibility,'' he said.

The inaugural women's tackle competition will start on July 3 with four sides, Macleay Valley, Wingham, Wauchope and Forster-Tuncurry involved. Mr Bridge expects there'll be some crossover of players from league tag and tackle, but he's confident this won't have a negative impact on either competition.

Mr Bridge said a closely fought premiership means there's standout games each round. All games will be of consequence next weekend, Mr Bridge pointed out, when Wauchope will play Old Bar at Wauchope on Saturday June 19 while the two battling sides, Forster-Tuncurry and Taree City clash at the Jack Neal Oval.

Finals contenders Wingham and Macleay match up at Wingham on the Sunday while the two Ports clubs go head to head.

"There's interest in every game, that's what you want,'' Mr Bridge said.

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