While last weekend saw 2025 preliminary finalist Rushworth lose its second contest of the season to drop off the pace of fellow contenders Nagambie (second) and Lancaster (third), the Tigers and Wombats did battle at the weekend in a game that had huge ramifications for the make-up of the top three come September.
Having now officially crossed into the back half of the season, the road back to challenging for second spot looks over for the Tigers, who are effectively two games behind the third-placed Wombats after going down 44-53 at Ironbark Stadium on Saturday.
Consecutive losses for Rushworth means the Tigers have slipped back towards Tallygaroopna in fifth, who are half a game behind at the end of round 10 with a game in hand, while now trailing Lancaster ahead by a game, although the Wombats do also have a game in hand, essentially creating a two-game gap.
It looks a large obstacle to overcome for the Tigers, who now also trail Nagambie in second by two games, despite handing the Lakers their only loss of the year, with the Lakers trouncing Murchison-Toolamba 51-24 at Nagambie Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
Aside from top side Shepparton East, who remains unbeaten, the Lakers possess the longest winning streak in the competition, extending their own unbeaten run to six straight games to hold an 8-1 record at this point of the season, and are firming as the closest challengers to the runaway Eagles.
It was another seemingly routine victory for Shepp East at the weekend, too, with the Eagles humming along to record a 60-35 victory over Avenel at Central Park Recreation Reserve as they near 30 straight games without loss and continue to look near on unbeatable.
Elsewhere, Tallygaroopna continued its strong campaign with a 53-29 victory over Stanhope, moving to 5-2-1 for the year to sit fifth, ahead of sixth-placed Merrigum, who claimed a huge 61-23 victory over Longwood to move back into the finals positions ahead of Violet Town in seventh, who had the bye.
Girgarre remains a slim chance of moving up into the top six by season’s end after defeating Undera on Saturday at Girgarre Recreation Reserve, securing a second win in its past three outings with a 56-43 victory, moving to 3-6 for the year to sit a game behind eighth-placed Avenel (4-5) and a game-and-a-half outside the finals positions.
