Bush and ‘Burbs: Blayne Wilson, Josh Bootsma, Harry Taylor and more as country and ammos finals arrive

The West Australian sports reporter Jackson Barrett takes a look at what’s happening in the country and amateur leagues around WA in his weekly column. Former West Coast player Blayne Wilson is the spearhead of Narembeen’s push for back-to-back premierships — and they are right on track. Narambeen clinched the minor premiership at the weekend, which means they enter the finals series with a double chance and a home final. The club last won premierships in consecutive years in 1998 and 1999. Wilson is the star of a Narambeen side that also features former Claremont player Tom Baldwin. They defeated Josh Bootsma’s Corrrigin 14.13 (97) to 13.5 (83) at the weekend, but had already clinched first place. The 32-year-old played nine games for the Eagles across 2013 and 2014 before going on to win a premiership with South Fremantle. They will take on Southern Cross on Saturday for a direct path through to the grand final later this month. Southern Cross smashed Nukarni 26.7 (163) to 6.5 (41) to seal their double chance. Burracoppin, who have finished third and will play finals, have not won a premiership since 1992. Cat with the bag Harry Taylor has a fair bit on his plate at the moment. He’s working at the Eagles and in charge of settling on the club’s next coach. But it hasn’t slowed him down in the Great Northern Football League. The Geelong premiership hero booted five goals in a boilover victory for Northampton over ladder-leaders Chapman Valley at the weekend. It also takes his tally from the past two games to 13, after he kicked a bag of eight in a thumping win over Towns. The upset win over the Valley now has the Rams nipping at their heels at the top of the ladder. The two clubs are level on 10 wins, with a draw edging the Royals just ahead. Taylor sits fourth on the league’s goalkicking charts with 33 from just 10 games. Finals Boom time Trinity-Aquinas has taken the box-seat in the blockbuster race for the Perth Football League minor premiership. Just weeks ago, four teams sat level on points at the top of the A-Grade competition, but TA’s enter the final round at the weekend one game clear of Curtin Uni-Wesley, Fremantle C.B.C, Kingsway and Ocean Ridge. The second and third-placed sides will face off in the final round. TA’s play eighth-placed Mt Lawley. Remarkably, sixth-placed University are 20 premiership points behind the four sides sitting level between spots two and five, which means the top-five is locked in finals, although their placings remain very much up in the air. The other PFL grades enter finals from this weekend, including the B-grade competition, where Whitford — featuring former West Perth player Sam Rotham, brother of Eagles defender Josh — was one of nine teams across the divisions to go undefeated this season. Got a country or amateur sports story worth telling? Email jackson.barrett@wanews.com.au