Wairarapa-Bush begin the quest to lift the Lochore Cup when they entertain West Coast at Memorial Park tomorrow.
The Lochore Cup is contested between the six teams finishing in the bottom half of Pool A and Pool B after the first round of Heartland Championship games.
With the first-round games now completed,
Wairarapa-Bush have earned themselves two of the next three games at home, having finished top qualifier of the teams competing for the Lochore Cup.
Points gained during the first round of games are carried forward into the Lochore Cup.
The home team chalked up nine championship points, giving them a three-point advantage over rivals Horowhenua-Kapiti and King Country, who gained six points each. West Coast finished the first round of games on 4 points.
Wairarapa-Bush will host West Coast in Masterton tomorrow, before hitting the road to take on Horowhenua-Kapiti the following weekend, followed by another home game against King Country on October 16.
Depending on results over those next three weekends, the semifinalists will battle it out on October 23 with the finalists of the Lochore and Meads Cups looking to lift their respective trophies on October 30.
With two wins already recorded this season - 23-16 over Buller and 33-14 over East Coast - the home team are arguably the form horse heading into the Cup.
Pocketing the maximum five points tomorrow from a weakened West Coast outfit would go a long way towards securing a home semifinal for Wairarapa-Bush, if further incentive was needed.
This weekend's opponents, West Coast, have recorded just the solitary win this season, a narrow 13-8 victory over King Country in the second round, while King Country haven't tasted success since defeating Horowhenua-Kapiti 17-12 back in August.
For their part, Horowhenua-Kapiti left it until last weekend before recording their first victory, downing West Coast 39-14 in Paraparaumu.
West Coast coach Anthony Lawry was facing a selection nightmare.
"It's the usual thing. Getting players to travel from down here, Greymouth, is a real problem.
"Both my imports, hooker Rowan O'Gorman and flanker Tom Gilmore, are unavailable this weekend and at the moment I'll be wearing the No21 jersey," Lawry said.
"I had two further withdrawals just this morning."
