ADCA 2024-25: Railways captain Coen Marwick to use Royals clash as finals tune-up as top spot goes on the line

Railways can jump from third place to top spot in the final round of the season but Tigers captain Coen Marwick says they are focused on this Saturday’s blockbuster against Royals as a critical finals tune-up. Top spot and direct qualification into the Albany and Districts Cricket Association A-grade grand final will come down to round 20 on Saturday, with both the Lions and Tigers a chance to finish first. The Lions sit on top with 58 points, four of those bonus points, but are ahead of Mt Barker who have the same total points and bonus points but trail on net run rate. The Tigers are within striking distance, sitting third on 51 points but with six bonus points already, they can claim top spot if they claim a big win over the Lions. A bonus point win would earn the Tigers seven points, and pinch top spot by bonus points over the Lions however Marwick said their focus remains simple. “Ideally we’d love to go for top spot, that would be a big bonus for us, but the end of the day we’re going to play our cricket and let the result take care of itself,” he said. “We played Barker last week and we’re up against Royals now, who are both in the finals as well, so what we really want to do is try and test some things out and prepare as best we can for our finals games.” A double bonus point win would have the Tigers finish on top spot outright. However a win from the Lions, who are the reigning one-day premiers, in their clash at Turf North will put an end to any other equation, leaving the Tigers to face a preliminary final against the Bulls. The Bulls can’t finish top and sit second but regardless of Saturday’s result will put their season on the line in the preliminary final on March 15. The Tigers were well beaten by the Bulls last week but will regain some key players for their final round fixture. “We’re hopefully going to be as close to full strength as we’re going to get this weekend, so it will be a good opportunity for us to get a good hit in before finals,” Marrwick said. Tim Edmunds, Milan Jaggi, Oswin D’Sylva and Jordan Draper are all likely inclusions in their bid to beat the Lions for a second time in the one-day format this season. The order of the top three is the only thing left to decide heading into Saturday with Manypeaks firm in fourth and Collingwood Park on the bottom. Those two sides will close out their season when they meet at Turf East.