Perth to host Sydney.
Melbourne v Brisbane

Yeah that's my tip too

Which means United would be playing a team who's beaten them 3 times in a row, the only team who beat United in the season series.

And Perth would be hosting Sydney- their two games in Perth were a last possession regulation game and an OT game

Hard to write a better script than this.

Also if Perth beat Adelaide and NZ beat Brisbane then Adelaide gets in.

"Perth to host Sydney.
Melbourne v Brisbane"

That could be two incredible series, especially if Brisbane can repeat what's given Melbourne so much trouble this season.

What troubles Melbourne?

I remember one game they were doubling Casper, and CG had an off game, no one was capitalising after that pass out of the double team. So United weren't scoring.

CG's in some good form now- so is Kennedy, so I doubt that strategy would work as well.

Brisbane disrupted Melbourne's half court offence well, in a number of ways, forcing them to play quicker than they like and in situations they weren't comfortable in, and at the other end the Bullets' ability to move the ball quickly and hit from outside is the antidote to Melbourne's physical pack defence.

That's why Brisbane have won the last three between them. Now they're a shadow of that team at the moment, and missed open three after open three against Cairns, but after a break heading into the SFs maybe they'll be a renewed team? Would make for a great series if that was the case.

Yep. Makes sense.

I think if we see United vs Bris, I'll start having flashbacks to 2015-16, United was minor premiers but NZ was the bogey team for different reasons. They were too strong in the air. United's three ball game was overpowered by them. During the season they'd beaten United the last 3 (to be fair the last 2 were the last weekend of the season and dead rubbers from United's point of view, they'd already locked up top spot).

But the only time United had beaten NZ that season was the 1 point win early in the season at Hisense in the middle of their 9-0 start, assisted by a questionable call against Webster on CG in the dying seconds.

A bit like this season, United's only win vs Bris has an asterix, Patterson was very fresh and Davis, Kendle werent there. Different team.

The final result in 2016- NZ outmuscled and outrebounded United in the semis. United got manhandled. Wasn't even close.

Still, United has shown all the strings to their bow lately. They've looked like a more versatile outfit in their recent high scoring wins. Hopefully Brisbane taught them some lessons and they're ready to go this time. You always learn more from losing than winning.

Or maybe they'll play Adelaide.....Or Sydney!

That's a really interesting comparison. Match-ups definitely matter, ask Brisbane about Sydney!

Possibly one difference is NZ beat Melbourne with toughness and playoff experience, where I reckon Melbourne have that in spades over Brisbane (with the exception of Gibson and Vukona). Personally I think Brisbane and Adelaide are very good teams, but they lack the consistent toughness of the top three.

assisted by a questionable call against Webster on CG in the dying seconds.

It would be a great final round if Brisbane and Adelaide were playing each other!

Melbourne's had a home game vs Perth in the last round of the season for the past couple of years - it's becoming an annual thing.

Playing for top spot (assuming United beats Cairns) in the last game of the season.

As Paul said, the only thing that could top that would be if Brisbane were playing Adelaide for the last playoffs position.

Yes. NZ had one a couple of weeks ago. I reckon fair chance there were others.

Actually, if I was going to pick a schedule I'd much rather have Perth’s finish to the season, with a luxurious 9 day break between home games on the 1st and 10th of Feb. They’ve had 3 weeks at home without leaving Perth on the eve of the playoffs.

Perth’s got 4 games in Feb, United has 6- with double headers in the last 3 rounds.

Sydney’s got 12 games from Jan 1 to season end. United has 11. Perth has 10.

Perth had a heavy schedule early in the season- where their familiarity with Gleeson was of benefit compared to teams like Cairns, Sydney and NZ who had almost entirely new rosters and/or new coaches.

So actually, if you want to talk about schedule, Perth’s had a far easier finish to the season than their main championship competitors!

LK would be super, super excited. Nothing is finalised until the very last game.

All indications lead to a Melbourne minor premiership. They play Cairns in a Valentine's Day Massacre match at home, then square up against Perth to reclaim top spot.

Sydney have one game left and will finish 18/10 and maybe 103%, so should finish 3rd
Adelaide need to beat Perth to secure 4th, or else rely on New Zealand beating Brisbane in Brisbane on their behalf (hey, Brisbane is the home of the brown paper bag in the carpark)
Cairns will finish bottom regardless, but The Breakers can leap frog Illawarra by beating them at home, and then getting a W against Brisbane.

Lots of exciting things to come this next round