Cream starting to rise to the top but is this the closest PMP yet?

The amalgamation of Group 10 and Group 11 was a surprise to some at the time of its original announcement and after some changes, we've finally got on the right path with a format that works.

The 2024 season has seen the removal of Group 10 and 11 pools with a top-eight finals system similar to the NRL, giving the best eight teams regardless of their location the opportunity to compete in finals.

Teams now play each other at least once, ruling out any unknown sides like in previous years.

Group 11 clubs Forbes and Dubbo CYMS have won the first two competitions but 2024 has a different feel about it.

"Anyone can win on the day though and there's quality outfits across the park in this competition," Mudgee coach Clay Priest said earlier this year.

"We'll let the media do the talking and we'll just worry about ourselves."

Priest's comments are right on the money and were echoed by Orange CYMS' Jack Buchanan last weekend.

"I think this is the closest competition since I've been out here and then probably in a long time," he said.

"You've got teams that are not in the top eight at the moment like Wellington that are taking the top guys off."

You only have to look at the ladder to back up what Buchanan and Priest are saying.

Mudgee looks certain to clinch a top four spot and is well clear at the top of the PMP ladder on 18 points but after the Dragons is where things get very interesting.

The all-important second place on the ladder will give one side a home-ground advantage and a second chance with Parkes currently occupying the spot.

But the Spacemen have three teams hot on their heels.

Orange CYMS, Dubbo CYMS and Bathurst Panthers are all equal on points with Parkes and are only separated by points differential.

After a red-hot start to the season, the Panthers now find themselves in fifth on the ladder with a tough road trip to Mudgee this week.

Dubbo CYMS will welcome back troops towards the back of the regular season and Orange CYMS has too much talent to be dropping down just yet.

The logjam at the top of the ladder means either one of the CYMS sides, Panthers or Parkes will miss out on a top four spot and will be in the sudden-death section of finals from week one.

Quietly going about their business down in sixth is Forbes just three points back from the previously mentioned quartet with Macquarie trailing the Magpies by a single point.

St Pat's and Wellington are yet to play their rescheduled game and at the moment are battling for eighth spot with the former's draw against Forbes keeping them above the Cowboys.

Even Nyngan and Lithgow are a single win away from fighting eighth spot.

While the familiar teams are fighting each other once again, it appears this year's competition is anyone's to win.