2014 Ladder

[Valheru]

Ok ladies and gents, time for the way too early ladder predictions for next year that we will all look back on and wonder how we got it so wrong. Just a note, this season marked the lowest turnover of top 8 teams in a while with only the roosters and knights coming from outside the top 8 in 2012.

1. Knights – I will go out on a limb to start, Bennett gets the best out of his players and year 3 sounds about right for a proper tilt at the title. I predict they will transform Newcastle back to the fortress it once was and on the back of that and their fast improving defence, they will finish 1st
2. Storm – This will be the last hurrah for this Storm team, Smith will leave at the end of 2014, Slater’s star will almost be distinguished leaving Cronk as the sole superstar. They will give one more title a hell of a crack though
3. Roosters – The premiers always become the hunted the following year, we will be good again but origin mid season and the odd upset will mean no top 2 finish
4. Sharks – They are beginning to make shark park a fortress again and have a good all round squad, they are probably a decent centre and winger away from a premiership. The ASADA findings could change things
5. Titans – They were very good for patches of 2013, they will only improve and are primed to make the 8
6. Cowboys – Yet again they are top 4 calibre and I wanted to put them there, the question mark is the new coach
7. Panthers – I like where the Panthers are going, they will be fodder in the finals but will do well to get there
8. Manly – Toughness can only get you so far, the veteran squad will be another year older. They are more than capable of making a dent from spot 8 with their halves though
9. Raiders – Even years mean the Raiders make the finals but not next year. Sticky will do his usual thing and get on the wrong side of some of the playing group in the name of building a squad for the future. It will work but not next year
10. Souths – The other teams have worked them out, they haven’t addressed their 2-5 issues and GI can’t be as good as this year
11. Bulldogs – On paper they are more than capable of making the 8 but they struggled without the spark of Barba and I can’t see where that spark will come next year
12. Dragons – The Dugan will get them a couple more wins but it won’t be enough to threaten the 8
13. Wests – In an obvious rebuilding stage, the bottom 4 beckons again
14. Warriors – I know they looked unbeatable in that winning streak but they are way to inconsistent and I can’t see Matt Elliott being the man to bring the best out of the team
15. Broncos – This will be the final nail in Griffin’s coffin
16. Eels – I just can’t see it getting any better for 2014

Roosters V Sharks GF

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

We're still a rubble, but we've got some pretty good signings for 2014. Hoppa, Corey Norman, Lee Mossop, Nathan Peats and Justin Hunt.

We've also got rid of Matt Keating, Cheyse Blair and Reni Maitua.

New hooker, a new five eight and we still have Jacob Loko to come back. We should have plenty of fire power. Our forwards, especially our second row, are very light.

 

[firechild]

8. Manly ? Toughness can only get you so far, the veteran squad will be another year older. They are more than capable of making a dent from spot 8 with their halves though

 

[ek999]

The Bulldogs are the real wild card next year. It really depends on if we can sign a good fullback to replace Barba. If we sign Hoppa or Hoffman I can see us being top 4 again if we can keep our forward pack on the park. If we are forced to use Morris/Inu/Perrett at fullback I agree we will struggle because they just aren't suited to the position for various reasons. Halfback is still an issue too. Having said that, our forward pack and bench are one of the strongest in the comp and we finished 6th without a full strength side all year so who knows.

I disagree with your assessment of Souths, they still have a strong side and will make the 8. Depth has become a bigger issue though then what it was this year after losing Crocker, Asotasi, King etc

 

[Silent Knight]

My team won't finish first while there is still a big question mark over the hooker position now that Buderus has hung up the boots. The modern game shows how important it is to have an effective dummy half.

I think most of the Newcastle faithful are praying to the football gods that our best prospect in Adam Clydesdale will come good for us and make the #9 jersey his own in 2014. Because we won't win a premiership with Gidley, Gower, Dobson or Waddell (shudder) in the #9.

I'm putting it out there. We rise or fall depending on how well Clydesdale takes the reins in 2014. His time has come.

 

[eozsmiles]

My team won't finish first while there is still a big question mark over the hooker position now that Buderus has hung up the boots. The modern game shows how important it is to have an effective dummy half.

I think most of the Newcastle faithful are praying to the football gods that our best prospect in Adam Clydesdale will come good for us and make the #9 jersey his own in 2014. Because we won't win a premiership with Gidley, Gower, Dobson or Waddell (shudder) in the #9.

I'm putting it out there. We rise or fall depending on how well Clydesdale takes the reins in 2014. His time has come.

Pretty fair assessment. Looks a massive hole at 9, but they still have several options.

I think the jury is out over the Knights semi final performances this year. They were two of the better performances from the knights, however they might have struck their opponents at the perfect time. Dogs were 50/50 all year and the storm seemed much easier to beat at the tail end than at the start.

 

[eozsmiles]

Great spine, great backline, awesome halves, winning culture, experience, tough. They had serious injury problems all year and still made the GF. I don't buy into the depth issue at manly the way many others do, I reckon all clubs have depth issues in the salary cap age. If they have depth, they lack guns.

I see Manly's only problem on paper as being a light front row. Even though their pack always competes they are losing some props next year. Must be hoping/expecting the likes of Sao and the other young bloke to step up, and they got Starling from Souths too. Of course the season is 6 months away, plenty of players will go under the hammer before kick off. They might find a prop.

 

[Springs]

Salary cap will start dismantling Manly soon. Apparently G. Stewart and Watmough take up $1.7 million of the cap next year. I think they'll make the eight next year but may go down after that. I doubt they'll be able to keep Lyon, Foran, Cherry-Evans, Watmough and the Stewart bros together much longer.

Ladder predictions are always a disaster but anyway:

Up:
Knights (top 4 - improve on this year)
Cowboys (top 8)
Sharks (top 4 - if they get ASADA out of the way should be up there)
Panthers (top 8 - the coaches know what they are doing)
Warriors (top 8 - will get there if they start well, unlike this year)
Eels (off the bottom - somewhere around 10th-12th with halves letting us down again)

Down:
Roosters
Sea Eagles
Storm (
Bulldogs (keep sliding)
(Either Easts or Manly to miss the 8, or at least disappoint)
Stay where they are:
Rabbitohs (still one of the best packs in the comp, eager to make up for this year)
Titans (still a middle of the pack side)
Broncos
Raiders (stuart is not a saviour)
Tigers
Dragons

1. Rabbitohs
2. Sharks
3. Knights
4. Easts/Manly
5. Storm
6. Panthers
7. Cowboys
8. Warriors

 

[Perth Red]

Put your mortgage on it!

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

 

[Marshall_magic]

1. Roosters (strong squad again, can't see anyone jumping them)
2. Knights (will take a lot of confidence from how they finished this season, with some gun players returning to the side and some good buys they're going to be tough)
3. Souths (will be there abouts)
4. Cowboys (I predict them to bounce back from their exit this season strongly)
5. Sea Eagles (they're getting older, but their halves will be the key to another strong season)
6. Sharks (wildcard of the league, could drop right off if anything comes of this ASADA investigation like we're being led to believe)
7. Storm (let the slide begin)
8. Panthers (I can see them slipping in)

9. Warriors (Another fringe 8 season)
10. Bulldogs (I can't see them reaching the highs of 2012)
11. Titans (more of the same next year)
12. Tigers (our young guys will be better for the run this year, although we're 1-2 years off being a top 8 team again)
13. Dragons (can't see them being much better with Price at the helm)
14. Broncos (not what they used to be, could be another long season for them)
15. Raiders (another bad job for Ricky to take, will struggle)
16. Eels (another bad year on the cards)

 

[firechild]

Great spine, great backline, awesome halves, winning culture, experience, tough. They had serious injury problems all year and still made the GF. I don't buy into the depth issue at manly the way many others do, I reckon all clubs have depth issues in the salary cap age. If they have depth, they lack guns.

I see Manly's only problem on paper as being a light front row. Even though their pack always competes they are losing some props next year. Must be hoping/expecting the likes of Sao and the other young bloke to step up, and they got Starling from Souths too. Of course the season is 6 months away, plenty of players will go under the hammer before kick off. They might find a prop.

Yeah, the forwards were where everyone was concerned this year and then Horo, Fa'aoso, Lawrence and Symonds stepped up. Trbojevic got his first taste of the NRL in round 26 and many are expecting big things from him (he starred in the 20s SOO and played in the junior Roos side). Like most forwards it will take some time but Manly have a pretty good record with bringing gun juniors into 1st grade at the right time. Chee Kam, Sao and Hasson are looking good for next year. King will be back meaning the front row will be King and Lawrence with Fa'aoso and maybe Gower or Trbojevic off the bench. Not the best front row going round but should do ok with Horo, Watmough, Stewart, Buhrer and Symonds picking up some of the slack. We've had a pretty hard working 2nd row for years that has made the front row look a little better than it is.

 

[gronkathon]

I will wait and see who has season ending injuries by round 5 before even guessing next season

 

[Jakemcc]

No way Broncos make the 8 next year...

 

[BunniesMan]

My 2013 ladder wasn't too bad so let's give this a go:

1. South Sydney Rabbitohs - Hungry. Frustrated. Luke Keary. He going to 5/8 gives Reynolds the ideal partner and Sutton going to the forwards makes our pack more dynamic and mobile. 2 birds 1 rock.

2. Sydney Roosters - SBW's last year in League, they've got all the ingredients needed to make a real go of going back to back.

3. Newcastle Knights - They're very much in win now mode. There roster is not designed for long term success. They have a great halves combo. I reckon this is their last year to contend under Bennett.

4. Penrith Panthers - the big climbers. They've spent their time down the bottom. They're ready to start winning plenty of footy games.

5. Canterbury Bulldogs - losing the distraction of Barba will do them good. Hasler is too good to have them slide just now.

6. North Queensland Cowboys - due for some improvement. Plenty of talent, should play finals footy.

7. Melbourne Storm - Let's face it. They're old. After a world cup and a full season of rep footy, a team built on 3 blokes turning 31 in 2013 cannot win enough games to stay in the 4. This will be their last good year for a while.

8. Brisbane Broncos - Barba and possibly Milford will see them scrape into the 8. But they won't be as good as their fans think they will.

9. Manly Sea Eagles - Similar story to Melbourne. They've made the finals 9 years in a row. Noone else has done more than 3 years. They have to start sliding at some point. I know I said similar last year but like Melbourne they've just gotten another year older. They can't just keep making finals in the modern system.

10. Gold Coast Titans - Mediocrity written all over them. A few decent talents will see them win their fair share of games.

11. New Zealand Warriors - the novelty of Matt Elliott starts to wear thin after a while. Wrong coach for the wrong team. Not enough discipline in the coach or players to get any higher.

12. Wests Tigers - rebuilding time, but plenty of exciting young talent should see them good enough to win consistently against the teams below them.

13. St George Illawarra Dragons - what are they doing down there in Kogarah? Why is Price still coach? The addition of Widdop will help them stay above the absolute dross teams but still too little talent and too much of a shit coach to challenge for the finals.

14. Parramatta Eels - surely they can't go 3 spoons in a row. But they won't be very far away from the bottom.

15. Canberra Raiders - Ricky is extraordinarily overrated. Dugan, Ferguson. Milford. Nuff said. A long way down from where they were round 1 2013.

16. Cronulla Sharks - they might have a tough offseason to say the least.

 

[Jono078]

In no order particular order (besides first thought of teams);

Knights
Roosters
Rabbitohs
Sea Eagles
Cowboys
Storm
Sharks
Warriors

 

[Card Shark]

16. Cronulla Sharks

Thank you

 

[umina panther]

Fmd BM. Now 2014 is a write off

 

[Sir Biffo]

Tom Waterhouse has just had a massive influx of people backing the Sharks for the Minor Premiership

 

[BranVan3000]

Troll thread? Troll thread.

 

[Kiwi]

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