Gold Coast-Tweed have all but secured the Minor Premiership after defeating Newcastle on the Gold Coast.
The Novocastrians arrived all revved up for an upset, but Gold Coast-Tweed were clinical as ever in an intense match that saw the sides close up to 5-5 before Newcastle appeared to come undone in their focus and slipped to 9-6, and finally an 11-8 loss.
The win puts Gold Coast-Tweed two points clear of Newcastle on top and with a 10-point for-and-against differential it is unlikely Newcastle can catch them in the final round. Newcastle is also almost assured of second spot, meaning the sides will meat again on the Gold Coast in the second week of the finals in the play-off for the home Grand Final.
Perth and Brisbane's finals hopes both came to a premature end. With varying fortunes (Brisbane surprisingly thrashing South New Zealand 11-3 and Perth narrowly losing to Melbourne 11-9), neither side can make the final six. Although only two points out of the top six on 8 with one round to go, the four sides in equal fifth on 10 points each play one another in the final round (Singapore v Canberra and North New Zealand v Sydney), hence two of those sides will advance to 12 points, locking Perth and Brisbane out of the top 6 regardless of their own results.
Melbourne's win over Perth assures them of avoiding the wooden spoon, being two points clear and a massive 23 for-and-against points differential ahead of last-placed Illawarra. South New Zealand were shocked to lose so heavily to Brisbane and their mascot the Big Peter Jackson was saying no more of his "I smell a premiership" comments of last round. The side must now focus on their round 11 match against Sunshine Coast which will decide third spot in the finals.
Sydney continued their excellent run, thrashing visitors Singapore 11-3 in Sydney and pushing their way into the top 6. Singapore appeared to be suffering from travel weariness against a focussed Sydney side.
Illawarra were determined to end their losing streak and avoid the wooden spoon, but it wasn't to be as they went down 11-9 to Sunshine Coast in Maroochydore. The match ended unfortunately with many Sushine Coast fans ridiculing the Illawarra players, prompting Sunshine Coast captain Tom Wilson to apologise on their behalf. "This is not the spirit we try to engender up here and we're sorry. We're sure Illawarra will come back to better things in the future after a tough first season in First Division.
Canberra continued their late-season slide, landing in 6th spot on the ladder after losing to North New Zealand 11-6. North New Zealand held on to a 2-point lead for most of the match. The turning point was a double fault from Canberra towards the end which seemed to break their focus for the rest of the match. It seems so little time since Canberra played their top-of-the-table clash with Newcastle in round 8.
The stage is set for the final round. Although positions one and two are all but wrapped up, and the bottom four are locked out, the four-way battle for the last two spots - Singapore v Canberra and North New Zealand v Sydney - promises to be exciting. Also third and fourth-placed South New Zealand and Sunshine Coast have much to play for as the winner will secure third spot and hence home finals for the first two weeks of the finals in the battle to take on the top two sides in the final 2 weeks of the finals.
ROUND 10 RESULTS
Sydney 11 d Singapore 3 (at Sydney)
Brisbane 11 d South New Zealand 2 (at Brisbane)
Sunshine Coast 11 d Illawarra 9 (at Maroochydore)
Melbourne 11 d Perth 9 (at Melbourne)
Gold Coast-Tweed 11 d Newcastle 8 (at Gold Coast)
North New Zealand 11 d Canberra 6 (at Canberra)
ROUND 11 DRAW
Illawarra v Brisbane (in Wollongong)
South New Zealand v Sunshine Coast (in Christchurch)
Newcastle v Melbourne (in Newcastle)
Perth v Gold Coast-Tweed (in Perth)
Singapore v Canberra (in Singapore)
North New Zealand v Sydney (in Auckland)
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