TFSA League Semi Final Predictions

Friday is set to be a big night for the Eastern Stingrays with all three teams vying for a place in the TFSA League deciders as the semi-finals take place.

The Stingrays will be underdogs in two of their three matches, as the Central Scorpions push to have all teams represented on grand final day.

The Central Scorpions were the most successful franchise of the minor round, with the mixed and men’s teams leading the competition and gaining direct entry into Sunday’s deciders.

The South West Wolves women’s team capped off a successful first portion of the season with a 7-1 win over the Northern Vipers last Friday and will be awaiting the winner of the Stingrays verses Scorpions semi-final.

The weather could play a major factor in teams planning ahead of the weekend’s games. In contrast to the hot and steamy conditions expected on Friday, a cool change on Saturday will see up to 40 millimetres of rain dumped across the city and wet conditions for the finals on Sunday.

The women’s game is set to be an epic contest against two evenly matched teams in the Stingrays and Scorpions. For most the season the season the Wolves and the Stingrays looked well ahead of the other two teams in the competition, but the Scorpions, led by Steph O’Hara put in a brave performance in the last minor round to produce a 4-4 draw against tonight’s opponents and will hoping that momentum continues into the semi-final. For the Stingrays they have had an excellent year, with new recruits turning the side into a genuine premiership contender. They will learn from last week’s game where they failed to capitalise on numerous sets of line attack. It is set to be a close contest, but with more match winners across the board, the Stingrays should make their way into what should be a classic grand final on Sunday.

This game will be followed by the men’s contest between the Vipers and Stingrays. The Vipers have had the wood over the Stingrays this year, winning all three minor round matches between the two sides. The Vipers have been boosted by the inclusion of the Andrew Van Gilst this season, while Josh Dobie has had another excellent season as he emerges as one of the competitions best players. It has been a difficult season for the reining premiers Stingrays. Devastated by the loss of players moving interstate and overseas in the off season, their only wins during the season have been against the struggling Wolves. They will be boosted by the return of playmaker Patrick McGavin from an ankle injury and will take confidence from the round 7 game where they held the free scoring Vipers to five tires in losing by two. The Vipers though should be too strong and look set to reach the grand final.

To end the semi-finals, the Wolves and Stingrays will meet in the mixed division. The Wolves will enter favourites with the Stingrays coming into the contest on the back of five consecutive losses. They did show improvement in the second half of the last weeks game against the Scorpions, while the Wolves, missing playmaker Darren Williams, were held to a 2-2 draw by the Vipers. The new look Stingrays will have to stop the midfield run of the seasoned Wolves if they are going to be any chance on moving forward in the competition. The Wolves should make their way through to Sunday’s grand final. 

The matches start at 6:30pm tonight, with the grand finals on Sunday commencing from 9:30am at Adelaide University Graduates Oval, with weather policies in place for both dates.