Jono Bennett, who was third coming into the 26^th round of the competition, took out the top spot after a season battling in a top three with Brownrite Building Group and Putta Bucca.

The final win put Jono on equal points at the top, with the victor drawn from a hat as the tiebreaker, and the Bennett Towing company came away with $1,000 off the season-long competition.

Any hidden secrets to his success?

“I don’t really have any strategies, I pick who is in form and go with them,” Jono revealed, confirming that the Mudgee Guardian’s method of tipping at random may not have been the best of choices.

“The only team that I really stick with no matter what is the Broncos, but luckily they’ve been winning a lot of games so they haven’t really dropped too many this season.”

It’s a matter of ‘head over heart’ for Jono, even if his involvement in Manly’s lower grade squads in years past means that every so often he may go with ‘heart’ when it comes to them.

“I dont think it really plays in to it [having played the game], I think that it’s more avoiding your favourites for the most part and not getting stuck in tipping the same four or five teams every week,” he said.

Jono was in the Guardian’s competition last year as well, but fell away towards the end of the season due to a few missed weeks, something that he admitted (and many regular tippers will agree) kills your enjoyment a little.

“If you miss a few weeks and get the aways it’s a bit disappointing and you don’t really get as excited to tip again the next time around,” he said.

Now, in the NRL at least, finals have three weeks to go and September footy is well underway.

Does Jono, who has proven one of the best tippers in Mudgee, have an inside call on the winner?

“It has to be the Melbourne Storm,” he confirmed.

“They have been unplayable this year, and while I’d love to see my Broncos take it out I think that Melbourne are just too good.”

The NRL grand final will be played on Sunday, October 1, when we can all see if Jono’s final tip is the right one.