Call them Oxley Vale Attunga, OVA or Mushies; hell, just call them bloody good

Against Kootingal at Riverside 4 on Saturday, OVA are red-hot favourites to win their sixth match this season and remain undefeated and atop the table.

But, more tellingly, a win or a draw would stretch their undefeated run to a staggering 42 matches.

It's a streak that dates back to the first round of 2020, and consists of 16 matches that year - including a grand final triumph over Tamworth FC, 18 matches and the minor premiership in the Covid-aborted 2021 season; and seven games thus far in 2022.

The question has to be asked. Is this the best team in New England sport?

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Tim Coates guided the side to three-straight premierships last decade, before stepping down from the job for a season and then returning in 2020 and staying put.

He said OVA's success was "built on the foundation put in place by Jimmy McGuire all those years ago when he started the club".

"The boys know what they've got to do," he said. "I guess it's a cultural thing.

"Anyone new into it [the team] gets adopted by the playing group.

"So, the older players - or the players who've been with the club for a long period of time - sort of welcome players in, take players under their wing, and away we go."

That superb culture, Coates said, meant an exodus of players at the end of last season was absorbed without having a shockwave effect.

Only "four of five players" had been with the side since 2020, he added.

For Kootingal, 2020 marked their Premier Division debut. They are still searching for their first win this season.

"I've got a lot of time for Chris Jarrett," Coates said of the Kootingal mentor. "He does a good job with his guys.

"They're an improving team. I think next year, or the year after, with all the young talent they've got, they're gonna be a force to be reckoned with."

Elsewhere on Saturday, Souths United and North Companions meet at Riverside 3A while Moore Creek and Hillvue clash at Riverside 3B.

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