Rugby: Who will grab the last finals spot?

Wellsford centre Jordan Hyland takes the ball into contact. Photo/Tania Whyte

The final regular season round of the Bayleys Premier competition is upon us and just one spot in the top four remains.

Old Boys Marist and Mid Northern have secured home semifinals after impressive seasons. Both have been well coached by Greg Shipton and Craig Edwards respectively.

Waipu has locked in a meeting with either of these sides after their 25-13 victory over Kamo last week. Coach Graham Dewes has helped the side to their 10 win, one draw record in 2017.

Who they face will come down to results this weekend.

They can put their fate in their own hands with a win over Otamatea at home. Should they do that with a bonus point, they'll head off to Hukerenui to take on 2016 finalists Mid Northern.

Anything less than that and they will have to wait to see the result of Hora Hora's home clash against Wellsford.

Again things are simple here for Hora Hora. Win and they will make the finals with no fuss, lose and it gets a little murkier.

Hora Hora should be confident. In the past two weeks they've beaten Mid Northern (27-20 away) and Western Sharks (27-19 at home).

Coach Doug Te Puni has been instrumental in the revitalisation of Hora Hora through the season after a rough patch earlier in the year.

However Wellsford won't go down quietly. After a less than stellar beginning to the season, they've roared back into contention under the watchful eye of coach Brad Te Haara.

Wellsford should back themselves to beat anyone in the competition. They are the only side to beat top of the table OBM in 2017.

But the trick for them will be to score four tries while preventing Hora Hora from getting too close.

Sharks are still in with a chance as well. Two consecutive losses have come at the wrong time of the year though they were against quality opposition in OBM and Hora Hora.

They need a big win but that will be a tall order against Mid Northern who will be looking to tune up ahead of next week's semifinal.

In the other matches, OBM will want a strong performance heading into the business end against Hikurangi while Kamo will want to end a promising season on a high with a win over Mid Western.

The Premier Reserve grade still has one playoff spot to secure heading into the final round.

Mid Northern, Kamo and OBM will all be involved in the semifinals - Mid Northern and Kamo will be at home.

However the fourth spot, which has all but been secured by Waipu, could still fall into Hora Hora's hands if results went their way.

Hora Hora would need a big win over Wellsford and then look for Waipu to be dominated by Otamatea. The hope is still there but getting the five points will be Hora Hora's first port of call.

The intriguing battle for the top spot is still raging between Kamo and Mid Northern. Mid Northern are on top heading into the final round despite winning one less game than Kamo.

Kamo could still snatch top pegging with a win over Mid Western, but even that comes down to the result of Mid Northern's match against Sharks.