GNFL bye round: Up-and-down season has proved unpredictable, with finals around the corner

The Great Northern Football League is on a bye this week, with some of the competition’s best in Perth for country week, providing a pause in an unpredictable season that is reaching the tail end.

Through 11 rounds, the season has taken twists and turns, and the title is still up for grabs as anything can happen coming into finals.

The biggest story has been the emergence of Chapman Valley, and what the Schofield brothers have done to turn the club’s fortunes around.

Coming in for his first year as player-coach, Jayden Schofield has taken a team who won just four games last season, and has them sitting on top of the ladder with an 8-0 record.

Schofield’s brother Kim is considered the side’s best player.

There is hope around the Valley that the Royals can break their premiership drought, with the club winning their last flag in 1992.

Despite their hot start, it won’t be a cakewalk, especially with teams like Northampton, who have proven finals can be a different beast.

The Rams broke their drought last year and look like one of the teams to beat this year, sitting second on the ladder.

Northampton have found consistent results despite a constantly changing line-up week to week, and they are still a side teams have circled.

Towns have come from nowhere, and there turnaround is just as impressive as Chapman Valley’s, if not more so.

A club that had won just five games over the past three years, the Bulldogs now sit at five wins through their first eight games.

Beau Walker has helped the club rise from the ashes, coming in as another new player-coach, and has quickly turned Towns’ culture around.

They have found themselves inside the top four, fighting for their first finals appearance since 2018.

While the Schofields’ going to Chapman Valley has elevated the Royals, there were off-season questions about what it would do for their former club, Brigades.

The Hawks have stamped those out, proving they are still one of the league’s top sides.

The Hawks have a 6-3 record and remain a team on everyone’s radar, with the young talent around the club doing some heavy lifting.

There have been struggles for other teams, and Railways are still looking to find consistency with their form.

The league runners-up from last year currently sit just outside the four, tied with Towns on record but about 3 per cent behind.

They have enjoyed the emergence of Damien King as one of the league’s best boots, leading the goal scorer race by a wide margin with 35 for the year.

Northampton’s Trent Simpson and Towns’ Jaylen Parsons trail with 24 and 23 goals respectively.

While the top four is usually set in stone at this point in the season, it could come down to the last weeks before the finals teams are solidified.

With all the new player-coaches that have taken over, Chris Scott’s Rovers are still chasing form in his first year as the leading man.

Taking over a side that lost several players in the off-season, the Demons are rebuilding, scoring just one win so far this season.

Mullewa are still chasing their first win of the season, as the club has experienced struggles, unable to play at their home ground for a large part of the season.

Despite the team’s struggles, some of their players have shone, with Jayden Wall and Tennessee Kickett among the side’s best players in almost every outing.

With six rounds to go until finals, GNFL action resumes on Saturday, July 20.

GNFL LADDER AFTER ROUND 11

1. Chapman Valley 8-0 / 230.83 per cent

2. Northampton 6-3 / 165.87 per cent

3. Brigades 6-3 / 134.98 per cent

4. Towns 5-4 / 147.31 per cent

5. Railways 5-4 / 143.98 per cent

6. Rovers 1-8 / 51.17 per cent

7. Mullewa 0-9 / 28.28 per cent