Premier League Permutations
With such a great competition across all the grades, it is impossible for us to do a preview of every grade in the competition. For those that are vying for finals contention this weekend we say good luck, and for those battling to avoid relegation we wish you all the best – a whole season comes down to the final round, and what a massive final round we have ahead.
In Premier League, every match of the five clashes can affect finals standings, or relegation status, as well as the relegation defence playoffs, so we thought we would have a look at the best outcomes and worst outcomes for each team before it all happens on the greens tomorrow…
The match-ups are (home teams listed first):
Cambridge v Mount Lawley
Osborne Park v South Perth
Manning v Doubleview
Sorrento v Bassendean
Cockburn v Leeming
So, we take a look at each team in current ladder order and see what a win or a loss could mean for them – there’s so much that can happen, we have tried to cover all the scenarios…
MOUNT LAWLEY – 1st (93 points)
Minimum needed to make finals: Nothing, the Mounters (the defending champions) will play finals
Highest Possible Finish? 1st
How can that happen? Mount Lawley simply needs to win against Cambridge
Lowest Possible Finish? 4th
How can that happen? Mount Lawley loses to Cambridge, South Perth defeats Osborne Park, Manning defeats Doubleview (points and percentage could play a role, and Manning has the percentage advantage over Mount Lawley right now)
Summary: Mount Lawley just needs the win to safely host the first day of finals next week. A loss and it might be a challenge to hold on to a top two, double chance, position.
CAMBRIDGE – 2nd (90½ points)
Minimum needed to make finals: 1 point, with Osborne Park and South Perth playing each other, one point would see the Knights collectively 8½ points clear of the two combined, meaning both could not go ahead of them. If South Perth wins against Osborne Park, or Doubleview beats Manning, the Knights cannot miss finals.
Highest Possible Finish? 1st
How can that happen? Cambridge defeats Mount Lawley and gets equal or more points than South Perth against Osborne Park
Lowest Possible Finish? 5th
How can that happen? Cambridge loses 8-0 (or 7½-½) against Mount Lawley, Manning defeats Doubleview and Osborne Park wins exactly 7-1 against South Perth
Summary: It would need a unique set of results for the Knights to miss out on finals, but one of the five sides at the end of tomorrow is going to be unlucky regardless of who it is. A win for the Knights would see them a lock for top two and a strong chance of hosting finals next week.
SOUTH PERTH – 3rd (90 points)
Minimum needed to make finals: South Perth needs at least 2 points against Osborne Park to be assured of finals, or for Doubleview to beat Manning. South Perth has the best percentage in the competition so any ties on points should go its way.
Highest Possible Finish? 1st
How can that happen? Cambridge defeats Mount Lawley and South Perth gains more points than Cambridge
Lowest Possible Finish? 5th
How can that happen? Osborne Park defeats South Perth 7-1, Cambridge gets at least one point against Mount Lawley and Manning defeats Doubleview
Summary: Just like the Knights, the Millers can finish anywhere from 1st to 5th. The first task is for them to find 2 points against Osborne Park and then see where they can go from there.
MANNING – 4th (88 points)
Minimum needed to make finals: Manning defeats Doubleview, or South Perth defeats Osborne Park
Highest Possible Finish? 1st
How can that happen? Manning defeats Doubleview 8-0, Cambridge defeats Mount Lawley 5-3 and Osborne Park defeats South Perth
Lowest Possible Finish? 5th
How can that happen? Doubleview defeats Manning and Osborne Park defeats South Perth. While points would then come into play, it would be likely that Manning would finish fifth in this scenario
Summary: It is simply win and you are in for Manning. While 1st place is a chance, a top two finish is a stronger chance as the loser of Cambridge v Mount Lawley becomes vulnerable to the Eagles, especially if Osborne Park defeats South Perth.
OSBORNE PARK – 5th (84½ points)
Minimum needed to make finals: Osborne Park must win 7-1 to be assured of finals. A 6-2 victory could leave them tied with Cambridge if the Knights take 0 against Mount Lawley, but the Knights have the percentage advantage. A 6-2 win could also be good enough if Doubleview was to win 6-2 against Manning.
Highest Possible Finish? 2nd
How can that happen? Osborne Park wins 8-0 against South Perth, Cambridge loses 1½-6½ against Mount Lawley and Manning loses to Doubleview. Points and percentage could come into play depending on exact results
Lowest Possible Finish? 5th
How can that happen? Osborne Park wins 6-2, Cambridge gets 1 point against Mount Lawley (or 0 but maintains percentage) and Manning gets 2½ against Doubleview. There are other ways – clearly if the Saints lose they will finish 5th.
Summary: In the Saints mind, they will be striving for the certain result of a 7-1 victory over South Perth. Slightly less than that and the phones will be running hot after the game.
BASSENDEAN – 6th (66½ points)
Highest Possible Finish? 6th
How can that happen? Bassendean scores ½ a point against Sorrento and Doubleview loses a rink at Manning, or Bassendean scores 1 point against Sorrento (Doubleview then cannot bridge the gap). Bassendean still finishes 6th if Doubleview loses any rink at Manning
Lowest Possible Finish? 7th
How can that happen? Bassendean scores ½ a point against Sorrento, and Doubleview defeats Manning 8-0, or Bassendean scores 0 against Sorrento and Doubleview beats Manning 7½-½.
DOUBLEVIEW – 7th (59 points)
Highest Possible Finish? 6th
How can that happen? The exact opposite of Bassendean…Bassendean scores ½ a point against Sorrento, and Doubleview defeats Manning 8-0, or Bassendean scores 0 against Sorrento and Doubleview beats Manning 7½-½.
Lowest Possible Finish? 7th
How can that happen? Bassendean scores ½ a point against Sorrento and Doubleview loses a rink at Manning, or Bassendean scores 1 point against Sorrento (Doubleview then cannot bridge the gap)
SORRENTO – 8th (42½ points)
Highest Possible Finish? 8th
How can that happen? Sorrento defeats Bassendean 6-2, or Cockburn loses to Leeming
Lowest Possible Finish? 9th
How can that happen? Sorrento defeats Bassendean 5-3, and Cockburn defeats Leeming 8-0, or Sorrento loses to Bassendean, and Cockburn simply wins against Leeming
COCKBURN – 9th (40 points)
Highest Possible Finish? 8th
How can that happen? Sorrento defeats Bassendean 5-3, and Cockburn defeats Leeming 8-0, or Sorrento loses to Bassendean, and Cockburn simply wins against Leeming
Lowest Possible Finish? 9th
How can that happen? Sorrento defeats Bassendean 6-2, or Cockburn loses to Leeming
LEEMING – 10th (26 points)
Unfortunately Leeming cannot make their way out of 10th, but can still have an influence on who plays in the relegation playoffs.
It pays to remember that those sides finishing 7th and 8th will have to defend their positions in Premier League against challenging sides from 1st Division White. This is all part of the move to 8 sides per division next season.
Good luck to everyone competing in tomorrow’s final round and, as usual, it will be the bowls that do the talking in the end.
