The Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League starts again this weekend after having the Kings’ Birthday weekend off.
All the teams would have welcomed the week off and the chance to rest players during the break.
The focus is back on the games this weekend as the chase for a finals’ spot heats up in the second half of the season.
Kybybolite hosts reigning premier Border Districts and this will be a great contest.
The Tigers are flying along at the moment and would never have dreamed they would be top of the ladder at this stage of the season.
Coach Jack Kelly has the side in a great position and the depth in the reserves makes selection nights hard to pick the best team for every week.
The Tigers have the league-leading goalkickers in Stephen Craig who is first on the goalkicking table and Billy Laurie who sits third.
Jared Deep, Andrew Bradley, Joseph Schultz and Jack Trengove are in form players of the Tigers team.
The Eagles will look to contain the star players of the Tigers.
Dylan Schoenmakers, Joshua Richards and Mark Quinn have been the consistent scorers all season for the Eagles.
Fraser Adams, Chase Bower and Dylan Auciello have had consistent seasons so far and will look to have another big impact on this game.
The Tigers will start slightly favourites at home but the Eagles are starting to find some consistent football and it would not be a surprise if they got up on Saturday.
Bordertown welcomes Kingston to Rooster Land and the home team will be looking to bounce back after their close loss to Kybybolite.
Bordertown has been in great form recently and looks set to make the finals for the first time since 2015.
Coach Thomas Whittlesea has the team playing a good brand of football.
The Roosters have recruited very well and the plan has always been to make the finals and challenge.
Jaidan Kappler is looking like a strong league medal chance after his blistering start to the season.
Troy Blackwell, Jacob Eats and Billy Hayes have been great for the Roosters in the first half of the season.
Kingston will have a big task trying to contain all the strengths the Roosters bring to the table.
The Saints have had injuries for most of the season so far but there is hope they will get a few players back in the next few weeks.
The Saints have gotten great service so far from Chris Draper, Campbell Watts and William Watts.
Draper in particular has been thriving since he started to come off the half-back line.
The Roosters play their home ground well and on paper look too strong for the Saints at the moment.
Keith will be a heavy favourite when they travel to Penola to face the Eagles.
The Crows have been doing enough to get themselves into a position to challenge for a finals spot and an important double chance position.
Blake Read, Riley Wilsdon, Aaron Young and Alex Schiller have been consistent in scoring all year for the Crows.
The Schreiber brothers Will and Seb have been consistent contributors around the ground and the Eagles will be looking to stop their drive from the midfield.
Daniel Bibby is again having a great season so far.
The Eagles have had some consistent performers in Jordan Galpin, Bradley Bryant and coach Jayden Eldridge during the season.
Jak Ryan and Beau Shinnick have been very good recruits for the Eagles as well.
The Eagles will need to get the ball into the hands of Brodie Foster often if they are to challenge the Crows.
Brodie and Jak Ryan will need to combine enough to give the Eagles a chance to kick a winning score.
The Crows’ overall depth looks to be far too much for Penola and they will be favoured to get across the line.
Lucindale will be keen to continue to find their best form when they play against Padthaway on Saturday.
The Roos had a bounce-back victory against Naracoorte in their last outing and this time they will face a Lions team that likes to put up a fight and challenge teams.
Jack Yates, Tom Fisher, Bradley Agnew and Will Graetz have been stars for the Roos in the first half of the season.
The Roos have done a good job of sharing the goal kicking load during the season as they look to put together a winning total on Saturday.
Padthaway has had some impressive recruits join their club this season.
Danny Juckers and Jordan Hooper have had very good seasons so far for the Lions.
Nathan McCarthy has been very consistent all year and the Roos will be looking to stop him from getting the ball on Saturday.
Jacob Fiebiger and Wyatt Fraser are two other Lions who have played some great football so far.
Tobin Cox would need to have a big day in front of the goals for the Lions to have any chance.
Lucindale will be favourites in this game and I think they should get across the line after the Lions push them all the way.
Mundulla will be looking for a percentage-boosting victory when they face Naracoorte.
The Tigers are flying along and sit in second position after only suffering one loss for the season so far.
Billy Wiese and Darcy King have been impressive in recent weeks in the forward line as they always look dangerous anytime the football comes near them.
Nathan Studham, Elliot Jaeschke and Nick Mosey have been great for Mundulla in the first half of the season.
Naracoorte will find it hard to contain the Tigers runners once they get the ball out.
It is no secret the Demons are a young team and are looking to build the team back up over the next few years.
The Demons have had some good performers in Tommy Anderson, Matthew Maney and William Limbert.
Matt Willson has been trying to use his experience to help fast-track the younger players into becoming a competitive unit.
Coach Sam Logan would have welcomed the experienced help during the year.
Mundulla should win by a big margin.
