Central Charlestown were the hot tip at the start of the year to win it and not much has happened in the first half of the season to alter that view.
The club's premiership drought extends back to 1949 when they were known as Central Newcastle and played their matches at Passmore Oval.
Gifted five-eighth Scott Briggs has guided Central to eight wins and a loss, a hefty 40-12 defeat by Wyong, and they will settle for nothing less than a top-three finish from here.
Cessnock's only loss this season was to frontrunners Central, and they also had a 20-20 draw with the highly regarded Roos at Wyong.
The addition of Roos hooker Chris Adams (formerly Dears) has been beneficial to both parties and he was leading the Player of the Year voting before it went under wraps.
They are at home to Central and Wyong in the second round and will be eyeing off the minor premiership.
Wyong are the third team in the breakaway group. They are the only side to topple the Butcher Boys, and they did it in style.
Hooker Mitch Williams has been a revelation in his first season in the Newcastle competition and the return of Matt Sharp from the Ipswich Jets mid-season will only make them stronger.
Well beaten by Lakes in the 2007 grand final, Wyong have a point to prove in their seventh season.
Coach Paul Stringer has stated this is the best squad he has had at the club.
Maitland have been one of the big surprises of the season.
To be sitting in fourth place at the turn is a fantastic achievement.
The recent addition of classy halves Jamie Battye and Joel Burraston has added direction and experience to their young side.
A semi-final finish in their first season back after two years out of the Real NRL would be an excellent effort.
Macquarie have been one of the biggest disappointments of the season.
The Scorpions promised so much this season after retaining the majority of last year's squad that finished fifth and making some quality additions headed by prop Danny Vaughan.
They have only won four of their nine matches and coach Mal Graham will be hoping for a big improvement in the second half of the season.
Kurri Kurri are another side that had the potential to be a top-three team but just cannot seem to get it right on a consistent basis.
The Bulldogs boast a forward pack that should be the equal of any in the competition, led by former Knights workaholics Luke Quigley and Reegan Tanner.
But they have won just four from nine.
Shift work in the mines has always presented a training problem for the Bulldogs but they still have a team capable of making the semi-finals for the first time since 2000.
Nelson Bay coach Robert Relf did not think the Blues were capable of making the semi-finals at the start of the season but might have changed his mind.
The 2005 premiers have only won four of their nine games but have shown glimpses of finals form since the return of Dane Queenan to the club.
Skipper James McCabe and prop Simon Osborne have been two of their standout players and will need to continue if they are going to score a top-five spot.
Western Suburbs are in unchartered waters languishing eighth on the ladder midway through the season.
Injuries have played a part, in particular to captain Dan Quinn, who is their go-forward man, but they have been disappointing.
The Rosellas have been the pride of the league for decades and have only missed the play-offs once in the past 32 years.
The defending premiers are under immense pressure to defend their title.
The best they can hope for is to sneak into fourth or fifth.
South Newcastle are another side that promised the world but delivered a donut, yet there have been signs of life in recent weeks.
The Lions lost their first six matches and looked destined to get the wooden spoon until three wins in their past three matches lifted them off the bottom.
An encouraging win over fellow foundation club West last Sunday could be the spark they needed to aspire to better things in the second half of the season.
Hard-working captain Scott O'Neill would love to get back into finals football for the first time since joining the club in 2004.
It would be easy to drive the slipper into Lakes United, but they are clearly a club still recovering from the financial crisis which followed their 2006 and 2007 premiership wins.
Coach Adam Brown has a team of youngsters that are getting better each week and will set their sights on getting a couple of wins in the second round in an attempt to avoid the wooden spoon.
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