Your guess is as good as mine.
The North Otago club rugby season finally gets under way tomorrow and it is tipped to be a tight one.
Player numbers have spiked with an influx of players returning and overseas players, especially from the Pacific Islands, settling in North Otago.
"Everything is very positive at the moment with the borders reopening," chief executive Colin Jackson said.
"There is a lot of young men, and women, coming to play their rugby in North Otago."
Oamaru’s freezing works have been proactive in bringing players in, and they had been spread across the "town" clubs — Athletic Marist, Excelsior and Old Boys.
Numbers were strong across the board, resulting in the Presidents grade fielding new teams in Athies and Old Boys.
"Club rugby’s booming".
But it is the Citizens Shield where the main questions lie. Defending champions Kurow will head in as favourites and will be desperate to retain the shield in its 125th year.
Valley is always regular in the finals hunt and Maheno has recruited a couple of young guns and will want to return to finals after narrowly missing out last year.
"To pick a winner now is difficult which is a good thing and I think you’re going to find that there’s going to be a lot of surprise results.
"There is so much enthusiasm around the town about the start of club rugby — it’s onwards and upwards."
The competition has reverted back to its former play-off system.
After the round-robin, the No 1 and No 2 ranked teams play each other and No 3 and No 4 play each other (July 1).
The winner of the first semifinal automatically qualifies for the final, while the loser plays the winner of No 3 v No 4 (July 8).
The winner of that game will advance to the final on July 15. The Presidents grade final will be played as curtain raiser.
All clubs, including Union (Presidents) and Waitaki Wahine (women's) have been approved $10,000 from North Otago’s Silver Lake funding.
Citizens Shield gets under way tomorrow with Athies hosting Kurow, Old Boys taking on Maheno and Valley playing Excelsior.
