Big Mick said:
Panthers in 10th and Riaders above them
Have another smoke at your pipe idiot.
While i agree that canberra being ahead of penrith is highly unlikely i do believe penrith will slide, they have lost some very experienced and proven proformers like Girdler, Lang and Roberts, almost at the level canberra with Wiki, Davico and Monaghan but i feel canberra has placement thier losses a tad better
Penrith will still make the top 6 but IMO they wont be a premiership threat
IMO the ladder
1. Bulldogs (Still the team to beat, relatively unchanged teams, injuries early on might cost them the minor premiership but i doubt it)
2. Brisbane (A lesser injury toll and then emergance of the Cowboys which = lesser rep sheduale will mean a less interupted season and will serve them well)
3. Sydney (Lost a bit without freddy but will still be there amongst it, still too much class in the forward pack and backline to slide to far)
4. St George (Plenty of talent but wont contest the big one, too many injury prone players and not a good enough coach IMO to take out a premiership)
5. Cowboys (I expect them to go better with Thursty and Webb, will lose alot thou with the loss of morrison but they have some awesome players and a very good coach)
6. Penrith (On the slide but will still be there, girdler, lang and roberts will be sorely missed and should a key player like Gower go down it could be a tough time for the fairytale team.)
7. Melbourne (Forward pack isnt good enough to have them legit contenders, the loss of Kearney will hit them harder than expected and Kirk was always good value, forward depth is a problem IMO but will make the 8 on backline and halves talent)
8. Raiders (Could be anything but im predicting 8th, Carney needs to play and go well for this to happen but reguardless this will be a stepping stone for 06, will not go anywhere near making a dent in the comp thou)
9. Warriors (Wiki and Price will bring disapline but its not enough to overcome Kemp as coach, they are struggling in key areas with Jones past his best, Webb at fullback is shocking and no decent hooker, Fein i cant see doing too well over there)
10. Newcaslte (with johns - 11th IMO, poor alround looking team with several key players in the latter parts of their careers, should johns go down early they are looking at the spoon)
11. Eels (recruited well in all but the halves. Still got a shocky halves combo IMO, simular to canberra they need their young bloke Smith to do well)
12. Tigers (Have potential to do alot better but i have doubts over their depth, if no major injuries then they might jag a top 8 possy, will be in the shit fight with Canberra, Eels, Knights and warriors for 8th spot)
13. Sharks (Another sleeper but i really cant see Dykes and Kimmorley complimenting each others games too well, too ill disaplined also)
14. Manly (BK and Kite will do little to change their fortunes, BK is too injury prone and Kite is over rated IMO, their backline is very weak, not much Monnas and Witt can do with them)
15. Souths (Not much hope they'll dodge the spoon this year, Hegerty and Cusak arnt good enough to lift them from the spoon, if no injuries occur then they are a chance to lift off the bottem)
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Positions 8-12 are completely interchangeable depending on preference IMO
