As we approach the last round of the nail-biting NBL1 South Women's 2023 season a few more teams have locked in a Top 8 finals position. The final round starts this Friday night, with a four-week finals series commencing the week after.

With fourteen home & away games still left to play, eleven of those games have ladder implications.

Six teams have clinched their final’s spot, but only one team (Bendigo Braves) has locked their top position, going unbeaten thus far. Five teams will compete for the remaining two spots in the Top 8.

Teams qualified for NBL1 South 2023 Finals:

• Bendigo Braves (Number 1 spot locked with an undefeated 20-0 record)
• Waverley Falcons (Currently 2nd with 16-4 record)
• Mount Gambier Pioners (Currently 3rd with 15 wins, and the head-to-head result over Frankston)
• Frankston Blues (Currently 4th with 15 wins, and the head-to-head result loss to Mount Gambier)
• Geelong United Supercats (Currently 5th with 14-6 record)
• Ringwood Hawks (Currently 6th with 13-8 record)

Teams still alive:

• Sandringham Sabres (Currently 7th with 11-9 record)
• Eltham Wildcats (Currently 8th with 11-9 record)
• Diamond Valley Eagles (Currently 9th with 11-10 record)
• Dandenong Rangers (Currently 10th with 10-11 record)
• Knox Raiders (Currently 11th with 9-11 record)

Ladder-impacting games (under-lined teams in finals contention)

• Geelong United Supercats v. Keilor Thunder (Saturday 5:00pm)
• Nunawading Spectres v. Ringwood Hawks (Saturday 5:30pm)
• Kilsyth Cobras v. Knox Raiders (Saturday 5:30pm)
• Casey Cavaliers v. Dandenong Rangers (Saturday 5:30pm)
• Frankston Blues v. Sandringham Sabres (Saturday 6:00pm)
• Eltham Wildcats v. Diamond Valley Eagles (Saturday 6:00pm)
• Waverley Falcons v. Mount Gambier Pioneers (Saturday 6:30pm)
• Knox Raiders v. Bendigo Braves (Sunday 12:00pm)
• Eltham Wildcats v. Mount Gambier Pioneers (Sunday 12:00pm)
• Waverley Falcons v. Geelong United Supercats (Sunday 12:30pm)
• Melbourne Tigers v. Sandringham Sabres (Sunday 12:30pm)

Summary of potential outcomes

Bendigo Braves (number 1 spot locked)

• Bendigo have locked number 1 spot. No result can impact this.

Waverley Falcons (finals spot clinched)

• Waverley have two games left to play against Mount Gambier Pioners and Geelong United Supercats. 
• If Waverley defeat Mount Gambier they will lock second position, regardless of any other result.
• If Waverley only defeat Geelong United, their finals position will be determined by head-to-head results with Mount Gambier, and potentially a three-way with Frankston, if Mount Gambier also defeat Eltham.
• If Waverley lose both games they will be at mercy of potentially a four-way with Mount Gambier, Frankston and Geelong on 16 wins, if Frankston defeat Sandringham and Geelong also defeat Keilor.

Mount Gambier Pioneers (finals spot clinched)

• Mount Gambier have two games left to play against Waverley Falcons and Eltham Wildcats. Mount Gambier can finish as high as 2nd and as low as 5th.
• If Mt Gambier win both games, they will have 17 wins and go to 2nd place
• If Mt Gambier lose to Waverley the highest they can reach is 3rd and they will be at the mercy of Frankston’s game against Sandringham and Geelong United game against Keilor.
• If Mt Gambier lose both games they could fall as low at 5th.

Frankston Blues (finals spot clinched)

• Frankston only have one game left to play against Sandringham Sabres
• If Frankston defeat Sandringham they can pontentially  end up in a four-way with Waverley, Geelong United and Mount Gambier on 16 wins.
• If Frankston lose to Sandringham they can fall as far at 5th place.

Geelong United Supercats (finals spot clinched)

• Geelong United Superctas have two games left to play against Keilor Thunder and Waverley Falcons. Only Waverley have clinched their finals spot.
• If Geelong win both games, they can climb as high as 2nd place, provided Mt Gambier lose at least 1 of their 2 remaining games.
• If Geelong only claim one win they will be at the mercy of the results from other games, pontenitally falling in head-to-head or three-ways with Mount Gambier and Frankston. 
• Lose both games and they can fall to sixth, if Ringwood defeat Nunwading, due to head-to-head results.

Ringwood Hawks

• Ringwood only have one game left to play against Nunawading Spectres.
• If Ringwood defeats Nunawading they can climb as high as 5^th, provided Geelong United don’t win either of their two, thanks to last weekend’s 1 point victory over Geelong United. If Geelong United win either of their games Ringwood will finish 6^th.
• If Ringwood lose their final spot is at the mercy of potential head-to-head and three-way with Sandringham and Eltham on 13 wins, provided both these teams win both their final games.

Sandringham Sabres

• Sandringham have two games left to play against Frankston Blues and Melbourne Tigers. The highest they can finish is 6th
• If Sandringham win both games they will secure a finals spot with position potentially determined by head-to-head with Ringwood, provided Ringwood lose their game against Nunawading or Eltham, provided Eltham win both remaining games.
• Winning one game will give Sandringham 12 wins, potentially putting them in a head-to-head with either Diamond Valley or Eltham, unless Eltham win both their remaining games to determine if they secure a finals spot.
• With a loss in both games they can potentially be in a head-to-head with either Eltham or Diamond Valley and Dandenong, provided Dandenong win both theirs to determine if they secure a finals spot.

Eltham Wildcats

• Eltham has two games left to play against Diamond Valley Eagles and Mount Gambier Pioneers. The highest Eltham can finish is 6^th, provided Ringwood and Sandringham lose all of their remaining games.
• If Eltham defeat Diamond Valley they will have secured their finals spot. 
• Without a win, they will be relying on head-to-head results to claim 8th spot.

Diamond Valley Eagles

• Diamond Valley only have one game left to play against the Eltham Wildcats. The highest Diamond Valley can finish is 7^th, provided they defeat Eltham and Sandringham lose both their games.
• Without a win, they will be relying on head-to-head results to claim 8th spot.

Dandenong Rangers

• Dandenong only have one game left to play against Casey Cavaliers.
• Dandenong must win this game to keep their finals hopes alive. They will be relying on other teams losing both their games, forcing a potenial four-way to go in their favour to claim 8th spot.

Knox Raiders

• Knox only have two games left to play against Kilsyth Cobras and Bendigo Braves.
• Knox must win both games to keep their finals hopes alive. They will be relying on other teams losing both their games, forcing a potenial four-way to go in their favour to claim 8th spot.

How is the competition ladder decided?

As per the league’s by-laws ‘6.9.2 End of Regular Season’ the competition’s ladder at the end of the regular season in order to determine a finals fixture, teams shall be placed in order of win/loss percentage.

If two (2) or more teams have the same win/loss percentage, final placings shall be determined by the head-to-head results in only those games played between the tied teams. If the two (2) or more teams remain tied, further criteria will be applied in the following order:

• Higher game points difference of the games between them;
• Higher number of game points scored in the games between them;
• Higher game points difference of all games;
• Higher number of game points scored in all games.
• If these criteria still cannot decide, a draw shall decide on the classification.

For example: i.e. Teams A & B have played 3 games and team C has only played 2 games but all have the same Win/Loss record for the season. This is caused because teams A & B were scheduled to play each other twice, where Team C was only scheduled to play Teams A & B once each. In the result that this eventuates and an even Head to Head cannot be calculated, the head to head results will revert to a % of wins in the games between these teams.

The process then repeated as many times as required to determine the eventual ladder. Each mini ladder or head-to-head calculation only determines one position. Again using the example above, if Team A was deemed the winner of the mini ladder of the three tied teams they would receive the highest available position. If that’s 8th then no further calculations will be required, however if that equals 7th or higher, then the process will start again for the next available position. Again in the tie of 3 teams where Team A has been successful in the mini ladder, the remaining two teams would be determined by a head to head result. If there are still more than 2 teams tied another mini ladder will be created and the next available position determined… and so on.

So remember…. One mini ladder does not determine all positions.