CAST your eye over any playing list in the Blowes Cup competition and you'll see names that jump out as attacking weapons.
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There are backs that couple serious speed with strong fends and mobile forwards that can find gaps up the middle of the ruck when there appears to be no way through.
But just who are the men who have scored the most tries this season?
At the top of the list on eight apiece are pair of wingers in Orange Emus' Charlie Steele-Park and Forbes' Peni Gaunimeke.
Steele-Park's efforts include the best individual haul in a match - he crossed four times in a 56-22 win over Forbes in round seven - while Gaunimeke's combination with the experienced Mahe Fangupo has created a load of defensive headaches.
"He's a good player and just naturally finds the try line. Good footballers find the try line," Emus coach Pete Bromley said of Steele-Park.
Close behind that pair is Bathurst Bulldogs centre Adam Plummer and immensely talented Dubbo Kangaroos fullback Calub Cook on seven apiece.
Cook is a man who has earned wide praise, Central West coach Dean Oxley saying: "He's lightning and he's going to be an exciting prospect for the years to come."
Late changes, but CSU gets a crucial win
THIS time last season CSU was celebrating being the first side in the New Holland Cup to beat Parkes, but 2022 has been a very different campaign.
Instead of being in minor premiership contention, CSU has battled to put wins on the board as departures, injuries and unavailabilities have plagued its campaign.
Even on Saturday when CSU came up with a critical win over Narromine to put itself in the box seat to grab the last semi-final spot on offer, things didn't come easy.
Star flyhalf Ethan Cusick stood on the sideline with his arm in plaster, hard-hitting centre Reggie Townsend was there with him with his knee in a brace.
Coach Dave Conyers knew that duo would be unable to play, but what he didn't predict was making changes to his starting XV just minutes before kick-off.
"We had three positions undecided at kick-off, we had two guys pull out late and one guy didn't show up, we didn't know he wasn't coming," Conyers revealed.
"We didn't have a front rower organised until 10am, but Tanner Covington showed up and he did a great job."
The good news for CSU is that for this Saturday's clash with frontrunners Dubbo Rhinos they should have more troops back on deck, including forward Lachie Buckton.
Orange rivals on a mission to play Ferguson Cup finals
THEY might be the fiercest of rivals, but when it comes to the Ferguson Cup there's one thing that Orange Emus and Orange City agree on - it's time to bring it.
While defending premiers Bathurst Bulldogs and the currently undefeated Dubbo Roolettes battle it out for minor premiership honours, the two Orange clubs are engaged in a battle to qualify for finals.
The Forbes Platypi currently rank behind Bathurst and Dubbo as the best of the rest, sitting in third on 24 points. Then it's Lions at fourth on 20, and Emus in fifth on 19.
The top four will advance to the semi-finals and there's just four rounds remaining to lock a spot in.
Having already ticked a major box this year in defeating the Emus, Lions captain Holly Jones says the City women intend to do more damage.
"We will be using the next couple of weeks to refocus on locking down a finals position," Jones said.
"And our biggest goal would probably be to knock off Forbes and Emus in consecutive weeks, to prove how hard we've worked this year and how much we deserve to play finals footy."
City will have to wait until next Saturday to make an impact, having a bye this coming weekend following on from the July 16 general bye.
For Emus that general bye was a welcome gift, following a tough 56-0 loss to the Bulldogs in round 11.
"It was a good chance for our girls to get some much needed rest after such a physical match up against Bulldogs in the last round," coach Alex Walker said.
As Walker sees it, a key to Emus being able to climb off the bottom of the ladder is training. They continued to work last week in spite of the bye.
"Despite the bye, there's not really a time to have a break," she said.
"I made that clear to the girls - that we need everyone committed to being there, as training is always more successful if the numbers show up.
"We've seen how adding certain elements - and focusing on special areas of the game at training - has paid dividends on the weekends, so it's been all about skills-building for us."
Emus will travel to Forbes this Saturday to take on the Platypi, a side they beat 17-5 last month after losing their first clash 26-14.
They swooped on the Eagles, but can Platypi duck into fourth?
IF there was a side in this season's Blowes Cup that you could call enigmatic then it would have to be the Forbes Platypi.
Forbes is the only side which has managed to defeat defending premiers Cowra so far this season, accounting for the Eagles 31-19 in round six.
Tony Wallace's men also came desperately close to beating the Eagles again just before the general bye - going down 22-20 in Cowra.
"I think we dominated that entire game to be honest. Dominated the game and field position, it hurts," Wallace said of that loss.
In contrast to those impressive efforts, Forbes conceded 56 points when losing to Orange Emus in round six and 40 when falling to Bulldogs in round nine.
With four rounds remaining Forbes - the side which has thus far been the biggest threat to Cowra's title defence - is by no mean assured of finals rugby.
The Platypi rank fifth, currently six points behind the Dubbo Kangaroos, and only winless Orange City has a worse for and against.
There's no doubt a team with players such as try-scoring machine Peni Gaunimeke and Blue Bulls co-captain Mahe Fangupo is good enough to make the finals.
The question is: Can the Platypi rise to the challenge of qualifying the same way they've risen to the challenge when playing Cowra?
Who is kicking ahead when it comes to most goals scored?
ADDING the extras to a try or punishing a mistake with a penalty goal - having a good goal kicker is a huge asset for any side.
When it come to this year's Blowes Cup the man who has added the most points off his boot is Bathurst Bulldog Kurt Weekes.
Weekes has not only been a huge asset to Bulldogs at scrumhalf this season - his form earned him a Blue Bulls call up - but his goal kicking has helped them out of some pressure situations.
He's converted 34 tries and booted 15 penalties - that's a haul of 113 points.
But Weekes is not the only one who has made good contributions with the boot.
Cowra fullback Noah Ryan has kicked 20 conversions and 15 penalties, while Forbes' Daniel Sweeney has scored 76 points off the boot.
Then of course there's Orange Emus stalwart Nigel Staniforth. The centre has crossed for three tries and has played a hand in others, but his contribution with the boot has been bigger.
Staniforth has kicked 23 conversions and five penalty goals for the greens.
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