TALKING POINTS | What we learned out of CWRU's seventh round

At least that's what it's meant to be.

Last weekend's shock, last-minute victory over Roos in Dubbo has rocketed the Lions up to third on the ladder and kept the dream of a finals derby alive.

The two sides haven't met in the post season since the 2015 grand final at Endeavour Oval, won by Emus.

And another grand final meeting might seem a bit fanciful at this point in time, but the Lions have proven more than capable of matching it with the best sides in the region.

They're guaranteed to play finals footy in 2020 - a huge boost for Viv Paasi's side heading into the derby - and the only question now is where will the Lions finish?

City plays Emus this weekend and then hosts Forbes in the final round of the regular season.

If they can jag bonus points in both games and a win in one of both, a top two spot and a home semi-final is still a shout.

206-0 - it's not pretty reading, not if you're a Lions fan.

But it's the accumulative margin the red-hot Dubbo Roos girls have posted in two games against Orange City this year.

A 100-0 win in round one and then a 106-0 result last week in Dubbo's second round meeting, Lillyann Mason-Spice scoring seven tries and star back Alanhna Ryan scoring 22 points in Roos' big win, a victory that all-but secured the Dubbo girls the 2020 minor premiership.

A final round clash with Emus in Dubbo will prove a juicy prelude to the finals, with last year's runners-up knocking off premiers Bathurst last week.

But certainly this year's title race is Dubbo's to lose, with the undefeated Roos head and shoulders - their differential is plus-318 after five games - above the rest of the competition.

Is there a tougher trip in the Central West than the Gorillas in Narromine - still?

Some 11 years after emerging as an absolute rugby union powerhouse in the region, the Gorillas' veterans continue to show why they've been so good for so long, and last week's win over Mudgee is just the latest example.

The Wombats were flying high in 2020 and looked set to finish on top of the ladder and then the red men knock them off 19-3 and stake a claim on this year's title race.

Just four points separates Mudgee, Narromine and then Parkes in the New Holland Agriculture Cup race heading into the penultimate round - it could be the tightest premiership race in country NSW this year.

The Geurie Goats were booted out of the Oilsplus Cup premiership race two weeks ago after an incident at King George Oval in Blayney.

Central West isn't able to confirm what the incident was, but NSW Country Rugby Union executive officer Stephen O'Brien said a serious breach of the code of conduct left little option other than expulsion for the remainder of 2020.

The Goats appealed, but the original decision was upheld.

Taking Points isn't surprised to see a lack of discipline or leadership from the Goats. At one point during the club's run of success in the last couple of seasons a member of the Geurie committee emailed to say they'd 'kick the shit' out of their opposition that week, and that it should go in the paper.

On the field, Coonabarabran takes on Molong and Blayney plays Coolah in the first round of the finals.