Five sides are vying for four places and all bar leaders Guyra are in danger of missing out, even though last-placed Glen still trails the pack by three wins.

Two big games this weekend will help sort matters with Inverell hosting Armidale and Tingha travelling to Guyra.

“We could run second or we could run last,” Armidale co-coach Greg Wood said.

“We could probably run first but you can’t expect every team in front of you to fall over.

“But while your destiny is in your hands you have to be

confident.

“Some people might have thought Glen Innes was too far gone but I think they’re the team no one wants to play now.

“It’s the closest Group 19 comp I’ve seen in a long time.

“There’s no standout and there’s no one tailed off.”

Wood’s side faces Inverell three times in the next five weeks and he said if the Rams can get on top in that mini-contest they could secure their place in the playoffs.

But if they lose that battle, it could be curtains.

They meet at Varley Oval tomorrow in the first of those showdowns and it could go either way.

“Inverell are an unknown quantity,” Wood said.

“We haven’t seen them for a while and when we played them last they were short handed, and the results lately have been so topsy turvy we don’t know what to think.

“At the moment Guyra, simply because they’re still on top of the ladder and with the firepower they have, they’d have to be top.

“Then with Glen’s resurgence they’d have to be the other form side.”

He said the other three are all neck and neck at present.

Before two byes, the Rams were starting to look good though. They ran Guyra close and then beat Tingha but now have to start building again.

“We were settled as a team with players in key positions pretty much set,” Wood said.

“We were starting to do the things that we’d been trying to do previously but not

executing.

“That’s why the two weeks will be frustrating because we’ll probably revert to our earlier habits.

“But we’ve still got those players in key positions and there’s still an air of confidence around the place.”

The good news for the Rams is that it has a good run of games going into the finals.

Guyra hosts Tingha again on Sunday having beaten the Tigers two weeks ago on the Red Hill.

But since then Glen rolled Guyra and Tingha bounced back against Inverell.

Glen has the bye this week and that means two more free points as it chases the pack.