Brothers run red hot as Ashes fire up in England

THE Ashes battle is finally here and hopefully they will soon be on the plane back to Australia.

Goodna's powerhouse forward Ramon Filipine stands tall in last week's win over Norths at Woogaroo Field. Picture: Cordell Richardson

BOMBER'S BLAST

THE Ashes battle is finally here and hopefully they will soon be on the plane back to Australia.

Lost in all this Ashes talk was the wonderful performance by the women's team to bring their Ashes home. They not only won the Ashes but they thrashed the Poms in all the one day and T20's an drew the Test after dominating it for a majority of the game.

The Women's Ashes is decided differently from the men with points allocated over all formats deciding the winner.

The series is not over yet but the Aussies have an unassailable lead with a few games to go.

The whole team has produced when needed but the superstar performer of the team has been Ellyse Perry who has starred with bat and ball.

Let's hope the men have been watching and can get some pointers on how to tame the Poms.

RLI preview Rd 19

BROTHERS v Goodna (Sunday): Brothers are starting to warm towards September with some great wins over the previous few weeks.

Goodna are also starting to hit some form at the right end of the season making this a mouth-watering game.

A win for Brothers would give them the minor premiership while a Goodna win would go a long way to them securing an all important top two position.

Both clubs have big forward packs and speedy backlines but it will be the side that does the little things right and plays a disciplined game that comes away with the points.

Home ground advantage will be a huge boost to Brothers.

Tip: Brothers.

West End v Swifts (Sunday): West End put in their worst performance of the year last week while Swifts had the weekend to refresh and start their surge towards the semis.

The Bulldogs must forget about last week's effort, regroup and put on a better show in front of their loyal fans.

The Bluebirds have started to find some much needed form heading towards the end of the fixture season.

Swifts must find the solution to starting better or West End might spring an upset or at least a draw like they did in Round 1.

Tip: Swifts.

Norths v Fassifern (Sunday): Norths' season was extinguished last week with the loss to Goodna while Fassifern look to have avoided the woodenspoon with a victory over West End.

Norths' efforts over the past few weeks have been great but unfortunately this form was needed earlier in the season when they were losing close games.

The addition of some experienced heads have really helped the younger Tigers and if they can retain some of these players then they will be a semi-final force in 2020.

Fassifern produced their best game last week in defeating the Bulldogs. They must bring this form to Cribb Park on Sunday if they are going to be any chance.

Tip: Norths.

Latest standings

A Grade: 1. Brothers 50, 2. Goodna 45, 3. Swifts 43, 4. Redbank 43, 5. Norths 36, 6. Fassifern 28, 7. West End 25.

Reserve Grade: 1. Brothers 52, 2. Goodna 51, 3. Fassifern 45, 4. Swifts 38, 5. Redbank 38, 6. Norths 28, 7. Rosewood 22, 8. West End 18.

Under 20: 1. Brothers 39, 2. Goodna 34, 3. Redbank 22, 4. Norths 22.

2nd Division: 1. Brothers 31, 2. Goodna 24, 3. Swifts 22, 4. Fassifern 20, 5. Norths 16.

Quick thoughts

SAINTS: 1. Rugby league players get a bad rap for a lot of things but hardly get praised when they do good. Melbourne forward Christian Welsh recently appeared on a football show and donated his entire appearance fee to the Cancer Council. A great gesture.

2. Young tennis player Alex De Minaur continues to climb the ranking ladder by winning the Atlanta Open. He is one of the male tennis players that most Aussie fans are willing to cheer for because of the way that he presents himself on the court.

Sinners: 1. The Shayna Jack drugs controversy couldn't have come at the worse time. Jack has been handed a four-year suspension and will now have to fight to clear her name.

Did you know? 1. Australia leads England in Test victories by 134 to 106 with 90 games drawn.

2. Australia also leads the series wins by the narrowest of margins, just 33 wins to 32.

Bomber's best: Another successful tip last week with the Sharks returning to the winner's circle.

This week I am heading to Moonee Valley where Race 2 hope, No 1 Absolute Flirt, is worth following.