Final week of GNFL season pits Railways and Northampton in important clash for second place going into finals

The final week of the GNFL home-and-away season is already here with round 14 being a farewell for some teams, but an important clash looms for second place between Railways and Northampton. While the Rams currently sit in second place, the Blues are knocking down their door, sitting only one game behind them but currently with a better percentage. So if Northampton come away with a win they retain second spot, but if Railways emerge victorious, then their percentage would let them jump up to the prized No.2 spot. Both teams have had big wins in the past few weeks, with the Blues coming off their 229-point mauling of Mullewa that coach John Reynolds said was a big boost for the players. “That win for us in a confidence sense was a big thing. . . knowing that we did it with around six to eight players that put their hand up for selection over the next two weeks is a big thing,” he said. With finals right around the corner, Reynolds said the team was getting players back to help make the push. “We had Jesse (Adamini) come back into that side, then over the next couple of weeks, Michael McConnell, Jordan Williamson, Ben Saunders, James Huggins to come back in,” he said. “Obviously some really big names that will come and be freshened up, ready for finals footy and help out this week as well.” With what is on the line for each team, focusing on the game at hand can sometimes slip away from coaches and players. “It definitely is a big game. . . it obviously comes down to this game to gain that top two spot but it’s important to make sure that we get our team working together coming into finals,” Reynolds said. In his first season coaching Railways, Reynolds took over the minor premiership team from last year with mostly fresh faces. “For me it was a massive learning curve with the first year at the helm, it’s had its ups and downs. . . obviously we lost of a lot of players from last year’s side,” he said. “I think we had a change of around 13-14 people from last year’s best 22, so that was probably the biggest challenge for me, being able to draw in a few new players and getting them to bond together.” After losing a large chunk of players, the team is still battling for a top two finish, but they first need to get over the Rams, who have been electric in their past few outings. Reynolds said that limiting the Rams’ scoring would be crucial if they wanted a chance at winning the game. “They’ve got the tools and a very good forward line, so it’s about stopping an easy forward entry and stopping it getting down to their guys,” he said. “Especially Harry Taylor who’s obviously a key aspect there and kicking a lot of goals, so we’ll try and get our match-ups right, and definitely trying to stop those easy forward entries.” Former Geelong premiership player Taylor has kicked 43 goals for Northampton this season, including 19 in the last two rounds. In the other round 14 games, Rovers will take on Towns as the Bulldogs will be playing their last game of the season along with Chapman Valley who will take on guaranteed minor premiers Brigades.