Predicting the final five Peter McDonald Premiership rounds

Whether it be a battle for seeding, or simply hoping to make the post-season at all, sides will have to be at their best if they hope to be crowned the best in the west.

But five weeks is a long time to sit and wait, so we decided to go through all 28 remaining games and predict how things will look come finals time. (Teams listed first below will denote home sides).

Mudgee v Nyngan, Cowra v Forbes, Lithgow v Wellington, Hawks v Parkes, Bye - Dubbo Cyms, Macquarie, Orange CYMS, Panthers and St Pat's.

Match of the round - Cowra v Forbes. The battle of the Magpies will have very different implications for the Group 10 and Group 11 competitions. While Forbes have almost certainly booked themselves a place in their group's top four and thus a finals spot, Cowra need to start stringing some wins together to simply make the finals at all.

With home field advantage on their side, we're tipping Cowra to get up in a close won here, 20-16.

Other winners: Mudgee, Lithgow and Parkes.

Macquarie v Forbes, Mudgee v Panthers, St Pat's v Cowra, Parkes v Dubbo Cyms, Orange Cyms v Hawks, Wellington v Nyngan, Bye - Lithgow.

Match of the round - Mudgee v Panthers. Two of the best teams in the competition, this will be a match that is sure to live up to the hype. While the Dragons have been formidable all season, let alone at home, the Bathurst side will be well rested after coming off a bye. Both sides have a good chance to make finish the season as a top two Group 10 team, which would assure them at least two chances come finals time.

This may well be the week that Mudgee suffer just their second loss of the season, but I'd have to see it to believe it. Dragons get up 32-20 in this contest.

Other winners: Macquarie, St Pat's, Dubbo Cyms, Orange Cyms and Nyngan.

Macquarie v Panthers, St Pat's v Wellington, Cowra v Dubbo Cyms, Forbes v Hawks, Lithgow v Mudgee, Orange Cyms v Parkes, Bye - Nyngan.

Match of the round - Orange Cyms v Parkes. We're starting to hit the home stretch now and neither side will be looking to give an inch in a matchup that could well come again come the post-season. If I was to guess who would be among the four semi-finalists, both the Spacemen and the green and golds would be on this list.

There can only be one winner though, and I'm giving the edge to a Cyms side whose defence has started to click into gear

Other winners: Panthers, St Pat's, Dubbo Cyms, Forbes and Mudgee.

Dubbo Cyms v Wellington, Panthers v Orange Cyms, St Pat's v Lithgow, Nyngan v Macquarie, Cowra v Mudgee, Forbes v Parkes, Bye - Hawks.

Match of the round - Nyngan v Macquarie. A lot would need to go right for the Tigers for this matchup to really mean something, but should they be able to string a few wins together, this would no doubt be a blockbuster matchup.

There are currently seven points separating the sides, so realistically, Nyngan could only afford to drop one of their final five matches and hope that the Dubbo side fall on tough times. Nothing is impossible though and if they can manage to pull off the improbable, in the three weeks prior, I'm backing them to continue on with it during round 15. Tigers 28 - Macquarie 20.

Other winners: Dubbo Cyms, Panthers, St Pat's, Mudgee, Forbes.

Dubbo Cyms v Macquaire, Panthers v Lithgow, Parkes v Wellington, Cowra v Hawks, Forbes v Nyngan, Orange Cyms v Mudgee, Bye - St Pat's.

Match of the round - Hawks v Cowra. Only one of Hawks, Cowra and St Pat's will make the finals, that is almost assured. With St Pat's receiving the two points for the bye this round, the race for the top four might already be over. But if the Bathurst team stumbles, then this could be a winner moves on and loser goes home game.

I'm tipping Hawks to get up 16-10 in this one.

Other winners: Dubbo Cyms, Panthers, Parkes, Forbes, Orange Cyms.

So where does that leave us at the end of the season.

Well, if our predictions are all correct, that would mean that Mudgee and Orange CYMS would finish the season tied on 26 points. With a much better points difference already, it stands to reason that it would then be the Dragons that would finish as minor premiers for the Group 10 side, with CYMS second, Panthers third (23 points) and St Pat's in fourth (19), with Hawks (14), Cowra (10) and Lithgow (8) all missing out on the finals.

In Group 11, the champions would be Dubbo Cyms (30 points), followed by Forbes (21), Parkes (20) and Macquarie (18) the finalists, with Nyngan (13) and Wellington (4) the teams on the outside looking in.

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