The Central North and New England community is throwing its support behind the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, Lifeline, Leukaemia Foundation and Bear Cottage through various fundraising initiatives over the weekend.

It starts tonight with the female residents from Robb and St Alberts Colleges going head-to-head in the annual Chugby4Charity clash.

Robb College will be raising funds for Lifeline’s 6NIL campaign, while St Alberts College will be supporting the Leukaemia Foundation in support of Sarah Lynch.

Tomorrow the New England and Central North clubs will be raising money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.

The aptly-named “Chopped Round” will see the participating clubs wearing special socks in the choppers colours – red and yellow.

There will also be blanket collections at the grounds and a raffle.

The junior clubs will also support the WRHS at their carnival at Quirindi on Sunday.

“It’s a great opportunity for sport to keep them flying,” Central North president Tony Byrnes said.

Pirates will meanwhile be raising funds for Bear Cottage through their Ladies Day, which is the only hospice and palliative care facility for children in NSW.

Tieing in with the charities’ Superhero week next week, there will be a “superhero” theme to the festivities.

Patrons are being urged to don their superhero costumes with Pirates donating $5 of the entry fee to Bear Cottage for every “superhero” through the gate.

The charity spirit isn’t likely to extend to the field with some potentially season-defining clashes in both competitions.

The New England round is headlined by the inter-college derby.

There will be double the incentive with double points on offer.

The result could also have huge implications for both sides top two fate.

Albies currently hold second spot and will lock in a major semi-final berth with the points.

But with only an eight point break on Robb, their rivals could, with a win, go equal with them or jump ahead of them – with a game in hand.

The other game sees Baa Baas heading up the highway to Glen Innes.

It’s a must win if they have any hopes of finishing third and hosting a semi-final but isn’t going to be easy, Baa Baas co-coach Brett Monley said.

“We can’t afford to take them lightly especially going up there,” he said.

They especially need to aim up in the forwards.

“It’s going to be physical,” Monley said.

“They’ve got a pretty good forward pack that can match anyone in the zone.”

They’ll be particularly wary of the Elks mauling skills. “They’ve got a good rolling maul,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re up for it when they roll it on and make sure we aim up.”

He and co-coach Sam Piddington have told the players they’ve got to graft away and be patient.

“Our call this weekend is making sure we go through our patterns of play and stick to our structure,” Monley said.

“I think we are coming home at the right time of the season.”

Central North action sees Pirates looking to bounce back from their derby hiccup against Moree and Gunnedah hosting Tamworth in crucial Tier 1 clashes for all four sides, while in Tier 2 Inverell make their way down to Quirindi and the two Rams – Walcha and Barraba clash at Barraba.

Barraba was just beaten by Inverell last week after fading in the last 20 minutes but will be “throwing everything” at Walcha, Barraba coach Nick Bomford said.

The result could decide who plays the bottom Tier 1 side in the major semi-final with only a point separating them.

“Walcha gave us a peppering at Barraba,” Bomford said.

“But I do feel we can bounce back.” 

It will be a tough game though.

“Walcha are a classy side,” he said.

“I still believe Walcha should be in the top tier.” 

Their success or failure will rest a lot on how they defend.

“We have to smarten our defence up and take as many points as we can when they’re on offer,” Bomford said.

Walcha totally outclassed them last time they met with the backs cutting them apart.

“It was one of those days we put it together,” Walcha co-coach Barry Hoy said.

“We’ve got to do it again if we want to win.”

The blueprint will be much the same.

“That game the backs had a good day,” Hoy said.

But that was only possible on the platform the forwards provided, and as it did then it will start up front for them tomorrow.

“We’ve got to dominate up front,” he said.

They did that in the last meeting with props Ross Fletcher and Sam Martin both having big games.

Hoy is expecting the loss to the Highlanders to sting Barraba, which will make them all the more difficult a proposition.