Illawarra League: Finals race heads into the straight

Already two points clear at the top of the ladder, Thirroul will shoot further ahead after a COVID outbreak saw Cronulla Caringbah forced to forfeit their home clash with the Butchers on Saturday.

It leaves the Butchers the only team in the finals race with any sort of breathing room, with the second spot in the top two within reach of Wests, Collegians and De La Salle.

Helensburgh are an outside chance of forcing their way into the finals heading into Friday's clash with De La, while Wests and Collies will meet in a monster showdown for second spot on Saturday.

Results could see three sides all locked on 16 competition points heading into the final round, with an all-important two bites at the finals cherry on the line.

The Devils have arguably the toughest run, with Collies and De La to finish, but coach Pete McLeod feels it's the "perfect" path into the post-season.

"They're both strong clubs who are both in contention to win a title and that's what you want at this time of year, you want to play teams that are trying to win a premiership," McLeod said.

"Ideally you finish in the top two and have one bite to make a grand final. That's ideal, and that's how it all works, but the way this season has been, and the way the last couple of seasons have been, I'm confident in my footy team whether we're first or fourth.

"What you do need is to be playing good footy against good teams, you can't just click your fingers and do that in a semi-final if you haven't been doing it for a month.

"The boys are excited for the back end of the year and Collies and De La are big challenges but, at this time of the year, you just want to be getting everyone fit and be playing good footy.

"I think if you asked all the coaches they'd say the same thing. You just want a fit and healthy squad playing good footy because you have to play good footy in big games to win [the premiership]."

Collies produced arguably the performance of the season in beating the Devils 46-16 in round six, but Nathan Fien's side has hit an indifferent run of form over the past month.

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The reigning premiers were outlasted by Thirroul 18-6 four weeks ago and were subsequently handed a 23-16 defeat by De La a week later.

The Dogs returned to the winner's circle last week with a 30-20 win over Dapto, but the patchy display came at a major cost, with inspirational skipper Blake Phillips copping a two-week suspension for a late shot on Canaries rake Connor McNally.

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It will keep him out of action until the finals, but McLeod isn't expecting it to take any sting out of the Dogs, who are also looking to capture top form with finals looming.

"When Wests and Collies play each other it's always a tough game of footy and you've got to be good to win," McLeod said.

"They obviously did a job on us earlier in the year so we need to player better against them because we're going to have to beat them in big games at the end of the year.

"We started that game really well but we went away from the style of footy we like to play. Everyone was disappointed that night but we had to move on really quickly because we had a hard run just after that.

"We've done OK since then and we've put ourselves in a good position at the back end of the year and, if we can play some good footy, who knows what could happen."

Cronulla Caringbah's forfeit was a surprise development on Friday, with IDRL general manager Nigel Roy reporting a COVID outbreak had left the Sharks unable to field a side.

"They've got a few injuries but the main reason is that COVID has spread all throughout their playing group," Roy said.

"We thought we were out of the woods through the pandemic but unfortunately it's still rearing its ugly head to impact our competitions.

"They're bound by COVID protocols but they've given us assurances they'll be back on deck for the final round of the Mojo Homes Cup."

Roy was quick to dismiss suggestions the development poses any question about the Sharks viability in the Illawarra League after a trying first season.

"We've got full confidence that they will continue," Roy said.

"The conversations we've had with the club have all been positive about going forward. It's been a learning season, both for us as a league and the teams coming in from the Shire.

"There's a lot of learnings, but we have absolute confidence that it will continue on. There's been nothing but positive feedback from the two participating clubs out of the Shire."

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