I favour St Marys to beat Mounties. Although I have not seen them much this season their record of 9 straight wins and the strength demonstrated by omission of Henry Seumanu and Leon Feiloakitau from the 17, entitles them to favouritism. Unlike the second meeting of these teams, where St Marys triumphed 38-4, this game will be a contest, with Mounties showing good form against a disappointing Wenty side last week. The listed team indicates that Mounties will continue to miss the thrust of Mitch Cahalane and Ryan King, with Lachlan Armstrong included in the bench last week after playing most of the season in A Grade, suggesting that their depth has been tested.
With 17 wins out of 20, Wenty should be strong favourites but they are sweating on Beau Henry's fitness as everything seems to revolve around his game management. Asquith have been hot and cold, featuring a 6 game streak where their defence was impregnable but more recently they have had a negative run. Like all the games in the finals, results will be decided by which teams respond to the pressure. These 2 sides will get a second chance but it is a completely different atmosphere from the regular season where teams are almost guaranteed a finals position from the start.
I think it is unlikely that any of the second set of 4 teams will survive to week 3.
