Grading the Haisman Shield sides on their performance coming out of the Christmas break

Nine of the 13 home and away rounds have passed and the competition’s cast is ready to stick it into sixth and step on the gas along the home stretch.

And so, MMG’s sports scientists donned our white coats and entered the lab to put every club under the microscope and examine them before play resumes on January 11.

Nagambie

Ladder position: 3rd

Grade: A

Nagambie wasted no time sending a deafening shot across the bows this season.

Beating reigning premier Kyabram — albeit by DLS — was a hot start, only for the Lakers to send a heavily-fancied Central Park-St Brendan’s outfit packing in round two.

An unexpected loss to Shepparton Youth Club United was the only true stumbling block for a Nagambie side not shy on ability, best shown by posting a monster 309-run total during an abandoned match against Euroa.

Mark and Luke Nolan have belted a combined 596 runs, while Mitch Winter-Irving has been in magisterial form at times, making the Lakers a shoo-in for a top six spot bar an epic tailspin.

Central Park-St Brendan’s

Ladder position: 1st

Grade: A

This season, Central Park-St Brendan’s is showing its old Tiger stripes.

Its classy, experienced bowling attack — anchored by seasoned stalwarts — has been a cornerstone of its campaign, choking runs and dismantling batting orders with surgical precision.

Tipped for a deep run this season, the Tigers have ripped through teams with the ball and have demonstrated the hallmarks of a premiership side.

There is a clear area that needs addressing, though.

Central Park-St Brendan’s is void of regular run contributors and will need its trusty bats to pick up the slack in the crunch games.

Euroa

Ladder position: 12th

Grade: C-

Before the penultimate round of 2024, nothing had fallen on the upside for Euroa this season.

While the Magpies weren’t expecting to reinvent the wheel after finishing 12th last season, there has been little indication of a break in the clouds for Andrew Squires’ side.

However, a shock victory over Mooroopna in round eight provided some much-needed respite for Squires and co, showing there is life in this side yet.

In saying that, Euroa has shipped the most runs in A-grade by a considerable margin, conceding 250-plus in the first three games, while only managing to break 150 with the bat in one of those losses.

Cohen Paul (10 wickets) and Vaughan Kirk (160 runs) are the two shining lights for the Magpies and one biblical performance from either could land Euroa another victory.

Karramomus

Ladder position: 10th

Grade: C

Karramomus’ season to date has been a mosaic of near-misses, brief flashes of brilliance and the looming spectre of “what could have been”.

A bye to start the campaign was followed by a baptism of fire against Katandra and then another against Waaia, seeing the Bloods’ confidence take a knock due to the early misfires.

What has improved is the side’s run scoring abilities.

Bright-eyed recruits Zavier Davidson and Declan Newbound (301 combined runs) have breathed life into the Bloods’ batting stocks, seeing Karramomus post 200-plus totals three games running.

The question for the Bloods is clear: can they muster the resolve and stitch together enough moments of magic to cement their place at this level — or will they remain a side battling to belong?

Katandra

Ladder position: 6th

Grade: B-

It may not seem it after nine games, but Katandra has quietly pulled up a few trees.

The Eagles are near-bulletproof across the board and, when a side pulverises early form teams such as Tatura and Numurkah, it paints a picture of how constantly threatening Katandra is.

What’s more, it began with a handicap.

Adding to Ryleigh Shannon’s absence, Corey Hickford and Jedd Wright barely played in the early rounds with import Seth Westley doing the damage in their absence.

It eludes to a fully-fit Katandra stacking up against the best there is when March rolls around.

Kyabram

Ladder position: 2nd

Grade: A

There isn’t much you can fault Kyabram for at the festive break.

The Redbacks haven’t lost faith after dropping game one of their premiership defence to Nagambie and a convincing victory over Mooroopna in the grand final rematch a week later certified their returning status as a Haisman Shield big gun.

Led by the brilliance of batter Kyle Mueller, whose innings often borders on the sublime, a question remains: is the reigning premier as good as last season?

Scarily, the answer is no — they’re better.

Kyabram lost four out of its opening five matches last year and still won the flag and, with a fully-firing Mueller at their disposal, the Redbacks will take some beating in the pointy end.

Mooroopna

Ladder position: 9th

Grade: C-

Mooroopna has taken a hefty nosedive after the heights of a grand final appearance last season.

Losing five core members — including gun strike bowler Luke Zanchetta — has hurt Mooroopna and it no longer looks like the same animal that terrorised teams during the 2023-24 campaign.

Jack Gaskill and Henry Barrow are pitching in with important cameos most weeks and if a few more in blue can follow suit, there is a shot that Mooroopna could make a serious comeback in the run home.

However, if it wasn’t already clear, there is no more room for error.

Numurkah

Ladder position: 5th

Grade: B

Fresh ideas can often trigger a team to turn from good to great.

In Numurkah’s case, the introduction of a new coach in Gino Saracino, along with a bevy of exciting signings, has transformed Numurkah from a finals candidate to a potential flag fancy.

Missing out on the top six on percentage, on the final day, would have stung back in February.

And so, Numurkah has left little to chance, attacking teams head-first with an order that bats as deep as 10.

However, the Blues’ bread will be earned in the first three games back against Kyabram, Central Park-St Brendan’s and Nagambie.

Old Students

Ladder position: 8th

Grade: B

In the season preview, we predicted Old Students to hand out a few lessons this year.

Rest assured, they’ve passed that test with flying colours.

Under Vince Gagliardi’s new regime, Students have already ticked off more victories than last season and are an outside shout to book a finals spot.

Import spinner Ed Pike (13 wickets) has been a revelation with the ball while the run-scoring duties have been shared around generously among the order.

A tricky final four games to finish the season will prove if Students are the real deal or a flash in the pan.

Pine Lodge

Ladder position: 13th

Grade: C-

Objectively speaking, Pine Lodge’s season has been below par.

Yet, with the unknown tag placed on their head, the Lodgers have not looked meek among the big cats since being promoted into A-grade for the 2024-25 run.

Okay, it’s not quite Wrexham FC taking each new division by storm.

However, Pine Lodge’s bowling brigade — led by tearaway quick Tiron Fernando — has scared a few sides and import Emile Haratbar has shown he has a nose for scoring.

Outside of Haratbar, though, the Lodgers are light on runs and will need to repair that hole if they are to record their debut win in A-grade.

Shepparton United

Ladder position: 11th

Grade: C

Hope can be a fickle thing.

There was so much promise for the Princess Park tenants before a ball was bowled, but a string of agonising results have taken a gust out of the combine’s sails.

An opening day loss to Tatura was followed by a final-ball defeat to Numurkah and you could just sense the groans from Sam Nash’s troops reverberating around the barracks.

Victory finally manifested in a big way when United belted Nagambie in round six and with a favourable fixture run to start the new year against Euroa, Pine Lodge and Karramomus, United will get a chance to see if it can live up to the pre-season hype.

Tatura

Ladder position: 4th

Grade: A

Back in October, Daniel Coombs would’ve snapped off arms if he’d been offered the position Tatura finds itself now.

Years of trusting local talent has finally come to fruition for Tatura, which has enjoyed its best start in decades with four wins to kick off the season.

Sure, a loss to Katandra in game five threatened to derail the buoyant Bulldogs.

It didn’t.

Tatura bit back with a storied beating of Waaia in round six and now finals appear to be the minimum requirement for a side that is unapologetically authentic in its approach.

Waaia

Ladder position: 7th

Grade: B-

Despite Waaia starting like a colt out of the turnstiles in October, the Bombers eased off the gas in November and slowed to a canter in December.

Standout performances flicker, but results have evaded them of late, making the final four games of the season more crucial than expected for last season’s minor premier.

What you can’t deny is the ability coursing through the Bombers’ order.

Fast bowler Jesse Trower is a virtuoso capable of shredding batting line-ups with a surgical precision, at the other end of this symphony, Mitch Cleeland wields his bat like a painter’s brush, crafting innings with a sense of calm inevitability.

For Waaia, the question is not of talent but timing.

When March rolls around, the possibility remains: can the Bombers finally finish the masterpiece they’ve been sketching all along?