2013 ladder

[HowHigh]

1 Storm
2 Bulldogs
3 Manly
4 Souths
5 Cowboys
6 Roosters
7 Sharks
8 Raiders

9 Knights
10 Broncos
11 Tigers
12 Dragons
13 Eels
14 Titans
15 Warriors
16 Panthers

I'm always way off though

 

[Mr Pmatta]

1. warriors (elliot is a top 5 coach, panthers and raiders held him back)
2. storm (very good with their 3)
3. knights (jeremy smith is a top 10 second rower who will be signing of the year)
4. panthers (cleary is incredible, if panthers listen to him he will take them far)
5. raiders (tough city to play in)
6. roosters (sbw is the best 2nd rower in the league and maybe history)
7. cowboys (tamou is a dog and wont have enough passion to make a top 4 spot)
8. titans (tough home team)
9. bulldogs (overrated coach, fullback is a glorified midget who will be injured for a long time this year)
10. manly (coach sucks and lost t-rex)
11. broncos (griffin isnt good, and their team is full of bad players)
12. sharks (getting mergepie rejects and panther rejects. great job!)
13. souths (lost taylor and got scum teo. reynolds was a fluke)
14. mergepies (terrible team, terrible coach)
15. st merge lol: team. words cannot express how bad they are)
16. bandwagonmatta (might move when all their fans ditch them. only show up when winning)

Are you a "special needs person" u sound like a total genius, poor fella.

 

[Shandy]

1.Bulldogs
2.Rabbitohs
3.Sharks
4.Storm
5.Cowboys
6.Roosters
7.Knights
8.Raiders
9.Manly
10.Titans
11.Parramatta
12.Broncos
13.Warriors
14.Tigers
15.Panthers
16.Dragons

 

[clipser]

Standard to see lots of people putting manly out of the 8... Again

 

[Lambretta]

The interesting team for me will be the Raiders

Not because I expect them to win the comp, but because everyone usually tips them for the wooden spoon and they usually come 8th or 9th with the odd visit to 14th or so.

This year however (judging by the responses in this thread) most people think they'll be somewhere in contention for the Finals series and I wonder how they'll react.

Of course there are only three options

Perform as expected (not a Canberra trait)
Excel (which they usually do by being middle of the road)
Completely fail (which they do on occasion)

But it will be interesting to follow their fortunes (on Foxtel of course)

 

[Shandy]

Standard to see lots of people putting manly out of the 8... Again

They have no depth so a injury to a key play would be the end of their season and Toovey has shown hes not a good coach so I can only see them going backwards. At best they'll make bottom 8, but that's very unlikely.

 

[tumbidragon]

1 Storm
2 Rabbitohs
3 Bulldogs
4 Cowboys
5 Roosters
6 Sharks
7 Dragons
8 Sea eagles

9 Broncos
10 Titans
11 Eels
12 Knights
13 Raiders
14 Warriors
15 Panthers
16 Tigers

 

[BunniesMan]

Standard to see lots of people putting manly out of the 8... Again

The law of averages suggest it has to happen. They are that far outside the mean. We're talking in the extreme 1%.

 

[Apey]

The law of averages suggest it has to happen. They are that far outside the mean. We're talking in the extreme 1%.

:lol:

 

[Springbokfly]

16.Souffs

 

[Red Bear]

All things considered, positions will be way off, but im going on top four here will almost certainly make the eight, anyone from 5-12 could make the eight but they are basically ranked in order of how likely I feel that is, and bottom four almost certainly wont make the eight

Melbourne - Barring long term injuries to key players will be right up there again

South Sydney - Have recruited well, talented players on the rise, should be up there

Sydney Roosters - spine a concern, forward pack and three quarter line impressive, 3rd is probably a bit high but will make the eight

North Queensland - If they are going to win the comp this is the year. Great front row, great player in thurston, good backline. Just need to win some games in Sydney


Newcastle Knights - Side was taking shape late last year, Jeremy Smith is a great backrower and return of Kidley also helps, should make 8

Canberra Raiders - Sam Williams really impressed me, depth across the backline, depth across the forwards, as long as they turn up week in week out should be tough to beat

Cronulla Sharks - Wouldnt surprise if they missed the eight tbh, have bought reasonably well but low front row stocks, uneccessary purchases (Heighington) and question marks over Carneys fitness, outside backs put me off them.

Canterbury Bulldogs - First half of the season with no Graham and, for some time at least, no Barba will test them, could well come home strong, not as good depth as last season and will need Williams to fire. Could easily do better than this though


Brisbane Broncos - Always make the finals, but not a particularly impressive squad, with problems through the backline. Good forward pack though. Could make the 8, could miss

New Zealand Warriors - very impressive squad, like the football they play at their best, put off by their attitude last year and choice of coach this year. Again, think they could do alot better than this

Manly Sea Eagles - Very reliant on 7 or so players who, apart from the halves, are all getting on in age. Though Watmough and Stewart showed signs of time catching up with them last year. Have lost proven depth for some average players/unknown potential. Could be top 4 if everything goes their way but a side that will begin transition IMO
Wests Tigers - Erring towards missing, Should be helped by Marshall having a halfback, a good run with injuries would help, just think they've missed their chance.


Penrith Panthers - Think they're on the way up, just not this season. Alot of improved forwards from the pack they had this year, some good young backs including Roberts, Whare and talent coming through. Not enough talent though to make the 8

St George Illawarra Dragons - on the downswing at present, lots of young talent but not enough quality beyond their fullback and wingers. Really need a good season from Drinkwater because the halves otherwise look poor.

Gold Coast Titans - bought more backrowers. Have a useless backline (especially if Sezer doesnt fire). Do not rate, basically. May surprise on the strength of their forward pack

Parramatta Eels - Dont rate Stuart as a club coach, dont rate the squad, at least a year off.


Enjoy quoting this at the end of the season to show just how much I got it wrong by

 

[firechild]

They have no depth so a injury to a key play would be the end of their season and Toovey has shown hes not a good coach so I can only see them going backwards. At best they'll make bottom 8, but that's very unlikely.

He's coached for 1 season and taken the team to the top 4 and a prelim, how could he have possibly shown he's not a good coach?

 

[Red Bear]

He's coached for 1 season and taken the team to the top 4 and a prelim, how could he have possibly shown he's not a good coach?

I dont think he's proven alot either way. Last season he was pretty much running Des's team. This season will be the test for him.

 

[firechild]

I dont think he's proven alot either way. Last season he was pretty much running Des's team. This season will be the test for him.

I didn't say he'd necessarily shown he is a good coach but given his 1 and only season could be considered successful you couldn't say it's been shown that he is a bad coach.

 

[t-ba]

Simples. In many peoples eyes, Manly are shit, and excuses will be made.

Classic example beng the Des is a charlatan and a fraud until he signed with the dogs, when he suddenly became the messiah and Manly was doomed to failure becuase the exact same coach who was regarded as shit left us.

Tooves did a great job with a squad who basically lost its entire backroom staff and had Des hunting down uncontracted players all season long. Considering the same people who said Tooves did a shit job last year are the same ones who probably picked us for a complete fail of a 2012, I wouldn't read too much into it...

Standard finals exit (under des) involved Manly getting completely owned by Melbourne...

 

[Apey]

Bumping at 5 rounds in.

Predictions now?

 

[firechild]

Predictions now?

Predicting BunniesDerp and Shandy go into hiding for a while when it comes to this thread. BunniesDerp will come out once his prediction has fallen a few pages back and declare that he always thought Manly were a good side.

 

[BunniesMan]

One key mistake a lot of people make in this is always underestimating the amount of top 8 turnover. It's very rare to find less than 3 new top 8 teams from the year before. Despite all the criticism I get for being wrong so often my 2012 ladder predictions were pretty good. Lets see how I go this time:

1. Melbourne - they showed they're good enough this year and will be hungry to do the one thing they've failed to in this era. Back to back grand final wins.
2. South Sydney - with our rookie coach and halfback getting another year of experience under their belt all signs point to another top 4 season.
3. Gold Coast - every year there is at least one big riser and I feel Gold Coast will be the team that goes up in 2013.
4. Canterbury - all the pieces are in place for another top 4 year
5. Newcastle - surely a team coached by Supercoach won't have another shit year
6. Easts - with the added class in Maloney and SBW they'll head north. they won't be as good as most of their fans think they will be but they'll be better than 2012
7. Manly - salary cap to start playing a role. They've lost one important player plus a lot of depth. They'll slip a little but still be top 8 and continue the longest active streak of finals appearances
8. North Queensland - important players starting to age, will be fighting to slip into the 8

9. Cronulla - to a degree I felt they overachieved this year. I don't think their squad is balanced. A lot of talent in the forwards but not much in the backs. Won't score enough points against good teams.
10. Brisbane - they're in a rebuilding stage. Don't have enough in the spine
11. Canberra - I feel the second half of their year was a mirage. The first half was a better indication of where they are at
12. St George - ordinary coach. Their squad is ageing and they haven't rebuilt quickly enough.
13. Parramatta - I still think they have arguably the worst squad in the comp. Very little talent. Question marks at the key postions of #6, #7 and #9. I don't rate Ricky.
14. Penrith - lost more talent than they've gained. The only thing between them and the spoon is the two basketcases below them
15. New Zealand - crap coach. Lots of talent but talent isn't much good if it can't be bothered to show up more often than not. I pick them to be in an intense fight with Wests for the spoon.
16. Wests - another basketcase at the moment. A less talented version of the Warriors.

I've got the top 2 spot on. I largely stand by most of these, with the exception of the Dogs. I think they'll finish a bit short of the top 4. But largely I think I've done an excellent job.

 

[BunniesMan]

Predicting BunniesDerp and Shandy go into hiding for a while when it comes to this thread. BunniesDerp will come out once his prediction has fallen a few pages back and declare that he always thought Manly were a good side.

lol@you. Manly will finish somewhere between 3rd and 8th.

 

[firechild]

What happened to your claim that Manly had to finish outside the 8 because...

The law of averages suggest it has to happen. They are that far outside the mean. We're talking in the extreme 1%.

?

I guess if you make enough contradictory statements you're bound to be right sooner or later.