Finals are just around the corner and while we know which clubs will play on the opening weekend of the playoffs, we still don’t know who they’ll play and where.

With so much up in the air, we thought we’d take a look at how this weekend’s matches will affect each side’s finals prospects.

To clarify, if two teams are equal on competition points at the end of the regular season the following tiebreakers apply:

1. The most number of wins;
2. The least number of losses;
3. The highest positive difference between actual points scored ‘for’ and points scored ‘against’
4. The highest points scored ‘for
5. The highest number of tries
6. The least number of proven offences as determined by the judiciary for that grade in that season

If at the end of this process two teams are still equal, a playoff shall be conducted prior to the commencement of the finals series.

1st – Sydney Uni (71pts, 13 wins) v Gordon (H)

If Sydney Uni beat Gordon on the weekend or claim a bonus point, they will finish as minor premiers and play Eastern Suburbs at University Oval in week one.

If they lose, fail to pick up a bonus point and Norths win with a bonus point, they’ll finish second and play Eastwood at home.

2nd – Northern Suburbs (66pts, 13 wins) v Randwick (H)

If Norths beat Randwick and claim a bonus point, they’ll finish first or second depending on Sydney Uni’s result and play either Eastwood or Eastern Suburbs as explained above.

If they win without a bonus point, they leave the door open for either Manly or Warringah to potentially leapfrog them into second spot, depending on their results.

If they lose to Randwick and don’t claim a bonus point, they could finish second, third or fourth depending on the results of other games this weekend.

3rd – Manly (65pts, 12 wins) v Eastwood (H)

Manly play Eastwood in the game of the round this weekend and there’s a lot on the line. If Manly win and Norths and Eastwood lose, they’ll finish second and play Eastwood again at Manly Oval for a second straight week.

Presuming Norths beat Randwick, Manly will face Warringah in the opening week of the playoffs. If Warringah beat Southern Districts with a bonus point, they’ll host that match, regardless of the result of the Manly v Eastwood game (Warringah will have more wins than Manly).

If Manly win and Warringah lose, Manly will host the match. Otherwise, bonus points may decide the venue.

4th – Warringah (65pts, 13 wins) v Southern Districts (A)

Warringah face a difficult road trip south to play a Rebels side with nothing to play for, a fact that probably worries Rats coach Darren Coleman.

If they win with a bonus point, they’ll finish third and host Manly next week. Unless Norths lose, which would see the Rats jump into second spot and play Eastwood in week one.

If they lose or win without a bonus point, they may have to travel down the road to Manly Oval in what could be a knock out finals match in just over a weeks time.

5th – Eastwood (60pts, 11 wins) v Manly (A)

Eastwood will finish fifth regardless of this weekend’s results but the Woodies will still be eager to build momentum ahead of the finals when they travel to Manly Oval.

Although Eastwood could finish equal with Manly on 65 competition points and 12 wins if they win this weekend with a bonus point, Manly will have had lost the least amount of matches so they will remain in fourth spot.

After a bye last weekend, John Manenti’s side will be well rested and will look to replicate their performance from roughly this time last year, when the sixth placed Woodies upset the minor premiers in the opening week of the finals

6th – Eastern Suburbs (55pts, 10 wins) v Bye

Easts have the bye in the final round and they’ll need to use their time off wisely after they were thumped by Norths last weekend.

The Beasties will most likely travel to play Sydney Uni in the opening week of the finals and they’ll need to improve dramatically from their round 17 performance, if they want their first appearance in the finals since 2013 to last longer than a week.