The Examiner takes a look at the remaining five teams and why they have a shot at taking home this season's title.

The minor premiers clinched top spot in emphatic style as the Tigers extended their winning streak against George Town. Their form line alone is enough to understand why Longford will be a threat in the coming weeks but their defensive structure is proving impossible for other teams to get past.

Longford ended the regular season as the best defensive team in the competition, averaging around 48 points against a game across 16 fixtures. Since round 10, Scottsdale are the only team to get beyond the 50-point mark (round 17) against a frugal Longford side with Bridgenorth managing 50 in round 10.

Importantly, their two best defensive displays came against two of the better attacking teams in the competition in Bracknell and Rocherlea. They kept the Redlegs to 38 points (round 14) and Rocherlea to 34 points (round 15) on the road to victory.

When Longford topped the table in 2019, they got dumped out in straight sets. The Tigers' faithful will be hoping that history doesn't repeat itself when they return in the second week of the finals series but how they deal with the number one mantle will prove important.

Armed in attack with Luke Murfitt-Cowen (46 goals) alongside Oliver Chugg and James Gillow (23 goals each) as foils, there's enough firepower there to pack a punch.

Bracknell have delivered an impressive regular season in part one of their title defence. As opposed to last year - where the Redlegs came from fourth to claim the title - Bracknell have been the hunted this season.

Bracknell are the best attacking team in the competition with 1398 points for from 16 games at an average of 87 points per game.

Their forward line has plenty of options within it. There's five Bracknell players in the top 21 goal-kickers with Corry Goodluck (39 goals) and Matthew Dennis (37) leading the charge followed by Jack Triffett (16), Samuel Goodluck (15) and Callum Mulder (14).

Josh Holland and Sam Borlini have also been successful in attack. On their day, it is a hard team to match in a shoot-out.

The Redlegs' biggest concern is all their losses have come against fellow title contenders. Longford knocked them over twice in the regular season while South Launceston also claimed their scalp early and Scottsdale rolled them in the final round.

In those losses, Bracknell's attacking prowess is usually down with the Redlegs not topping 62 points in a defeat. They'll need to find a way to grind a game when it isn't going their way.

Rocherlea are a star-studded side with a talent all over the field. The midfield is a roll-call of names with Josh Ponting, Jordan Cousens, Dakota Bannister and Jack Rushton all going through the middle.

The forward line has plenty of options with the competition's leading goal-kicker Josh Holton (58 goals) supported by Zane Brown (22) and Kaiden Cox-Goodyer with all three kicking four goals in round 18.

The backline has the familiar faces of Luke Richards and Luke Purdon while Bailey Wells has come on strong this season. The trio are part of the second-best defence in the competition on a points per game basis, averaging 54 against.

Their only real issue they have is consistency. They've beaten the likes of Longford, Scottsdale and sixth-placed George Town but also lost to them so finding week-to-week consistency in finals is critical for the Tigers.

Last year's grand finalists made a surge to finals after looking shaky around a month ago. It is a different team to the one that graced UTAS Stadium last September but there's plenty of young talent there.

In some ways, the Bulldogs' game suits finals. On their day, their best is can match anyone in the competition. They've shown that with victories over Bracknell and Scottsdale while they've pushed Rocherlea and Longford to around two goals.

Their wins against Scottsdale and George Town in rounds 15 and 16 were their best of the season and indicated they found a balance between their defensive and attacking plans which resulted in a high-scoring ceiling.

However, in their losses, they've shown they can fade out and have lapses in quarters. In their most recent matches against Rocherlea and Longford, they led in both only to fall behind in the second half and lose.

A similar fade out will cost them in finals.

They left it late but the Magpies are back in finals thanks to a gutsy round 18 win.

They'll need more of the same to make a run in finals and their accuracy will need to remain the on-par to make a deep run.

The Magpies are the lowest scoring team in the finals but they've also conceded the most with average 67 points against per game. Attacking efficiency has been their calling card.

READ MORE: Scottsdale soar into NTFA premier division finals series

In five of their eight wins, the Magpies' opponents had equal or more scoring shots than them, showcasing Scottsdale's remarkable efficiency. It helped them gain wins over fellow finalists Rocherlea (round one) and Bracknell (round 18) and it will keep them in with a shot.

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