Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup finals run in: Locks, contenders, outsiders and every team’s run home
With two rounds to go in the 2023 Illawarra Cup season, five of the six teams are still in with a shot of making the grand final. See what it will take for each team to get there.
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Just two rounds remain of thrilling local rugby league action in the 2023 Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup before finals commence.
The 2023 season has been incredibly unpredictable, featuring a number of changes at the top of the ladder and shock results occurring week by week.
For a while it looked as though the four teams competing in the finals were locked, but a late season surge from an unsuspecting threat has meant the season is going down to the wire.
We’ve crunched the numbers and analysed the form guide of each Illawarra Cup side to see what they need to do in order to qualify for the final series.
Collegians
Position: 1st
Points: 20 (+156)
Highest possible finish: 1st
Lowest possible finish: 3rd
The bottom line:
Mathematically locked in to the finals and looking to secure back-to-back-to-back premierships is the ever threatening Collegians.
It’s been a strong second half to the season by Peter Hooper’s troops, slipping up only once to Dapto since the opening five games of the season.
They statistically have the best defence in the competition, averaging 15 points conceded per game so far this season.
Sam McCann has been on fire from the wing with 16 tries, while 2023 recruit Callum Gromek is not too far behind him with 11 from fullback.
Collegians possess great power in their forwards as well, with Blake Phillips inspiring with the captain’s armband and the Dowel brothers Blake and Josh consistently putting in top performances.
However it’s still too early to start celebrating, as their final two fixtures of the season come against second placed De La Salle and third placed Western Suburbs Devils, two sides who have already gotten the better of the Collie Dogs this season.
They’ve proven tough to beat, but by no means unbeatable in 2023, so Collegians will be looking for a strong final two games of the season to lock down first place so they have two bites of the cherry come finals.
Run home: De La Salle (a), Western Suburbs Devils (H)
De La Salle
Position: 2nd
Points: 19 (+94)
Highest possible finish: 1st
Lowest possible finish: 3rd
The bottom line:
A much improved De La Salle outfit in 2023 to the one that finished fourth and crashed out of finals in the first week in 2022.
Nine wins from 13 games is a terrific showing, with the Shire side posing the most points scored of all the sides this season at 361.
Crucially, De La are finding form at a good time with four wins on the trot and breathing down the neck of Collegians ahead of their massive matchup this weekend.
Jaz Flavell has been on fire from hooker, while Cruiz Devine and Jacko Stewart have been standouts from second row and lock.
Eli Levido has been steering the ship with great experience in the halves, while Jack Williams is a much welcomed return from injury to partner him.
They’ve proven they can topple Collegians already this season, but on the flip side have also been on the losing end.
Defensively there’s still room to tighten up as well, having conceded quite a large number of points than Collegians, Wests and even Thirroul so far this season.
A win this weekend and Luke Manahan’s men move up to first place and are all but guaranteed the minor premiership.
Run home: Collegians (H), Corrimal (H)
Western Suburbs Devils
Position: 3rd
Points: 17 (+138)
Highest possible finish: 1st
Lowest possible finish: 3rd
The bottom line:
By round eight, Western Suburbs were undefeated and looking more and more likely to be crowned minor premiers and stroll into back-to-back grand finals.
That being said, anyone at the club will tell you they weren’t playing their best footy still, which appears to have caught up to them as since round eight they’ve lost four games in a row, only just breaking that losing streak last weekend against Corrimal.
It’s a bad time of the season for Peter McLeod’s men to be out of form, but luckily for them they are mathematically guaranteed to make finals thanks to a stellar first half of the season.
Despite a turn in form, it takes only a moment for the Devils’ class to shine through, typically through the trusty halves combination of Justin Rodrigues and Mitch Porter.
Lachlan Hurst leads the try scoring front for the Devils on 12, nipping at the heels of Sam McCann.
They face two tough tests in the final weeks of the regular season where we’ll get a proper indication of where the Devils are at.
Run home: Thirroul (H), Collegians (a)
Thirroul Butchers
Position: 4th
Points: 12 (+86)
Highest possible finish: 4th
Lowest possible finish: 5th
The bottom line:
It’s not the kind of finals battle Thirroul were hoping to be in at the start of the season, but after 13 games the Butchers have just six wins in 2023.
This is a significant downgrade from their 2022 season in which the Jarrod Costello’s troops won 11 of their 12 regular season games prior to finals.
Throughout the 2023 campaign the Butchers have showed glimmers that the potential is still there, namely through their victory over De La Salle and dealing the first loss of the season to Wests in round nine.
When things have clicked, it has typically been down to their decorated halves combination of Jarrod Boyle and Tarje Whitford, while Brad Deitz has excelled from hooker to make a lethal spine for the Butchers.
At the end of the day though the consistency hasn’t been there and Thirroul sit in fourth place with seven losses, despite boasting the third best defensive record in the league.
They face Western Suburbs in round 14 with a victory all but guaranteeing them a finals spot. A loss on the other hand would tee up a winner takes all match in the final round against fifth placed Dapto.
Time will tell if the Butchers still have the ability to compete with the big boys in the 2023 Illawarra Cup.
Home run: Western Suburbs Devils (a), Dapto Canaries (H)
Dapto Canaries
Position: 5th
Points: 10 (-112)
Highest possible finish: 4th
Lowest possible finish: 5th
The bottom line:
The surprise packet of the 2023 Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup is the Dapto Canaries with their never say die attitude.
By round nine the Canaries had only managed wins against Corrimal, coming up frustratingly short in all their other games despite periods of dominance.
Then an incredible winning run would commence in which the Canaries got the better of Thirroul, Wests and Collegians in consecutive weeks and revived their finals hopes.
Former NRL player Pita Godinet has really come into his own in the halves, while Jack Piccirilli has been lethal on the try scoring front with 10 to his name this season.
Their most recent match brought them crashing back down to Earth with a loss to De La Salle, but they can still mathematically make the finals with two wins from their final two games, as well as a bit of help from the Devils if they can topple the Butchers.
It would be a terrific achievement considering the season had all but been deemed a battle between four team, but the Canaries have shown they’re not just here to make the numbers.
Home run: Corrimal Cougars (a), Thirroul Butchers (a)
Corrimal Cougars
Position: 6th
Points: 0 (-362)
Confirmed finish: 6th
The bottom line:
Unfortunately the Cougars simply weren’t up to the standard of the 2023 Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup and are mathematically ineligible for finals.
An average of eight points scored and 36 conceded per game isn’t going to get you far in a small competition of such high quality.
Credit to the Cougars though, they’ve put injuries aside and kept morale up, showing up every week and ensuring we have enough teams to keep this historic competition aloft.
They have two weeks left to try and snag a sole victory for the season and perhaps ruffle a few feathers at the top of the table and maybe find some belief to carry into the 2024 season.
Run home: Dapto Canaries (H), De La Salle (a)
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