I still have faith in Griffins ability to turn things around and believe that if we have a lot of luck go our way, we have a good chance of making the top 4. To do this I believe we need the following:
Fullback
By round 5 we need Ramsey at fullback. Our chances rely on our custodian being able to be strong in our last line of defence.
Wingers
We need two quick and reliable wingers who can find the line. I am confident Matt Feagai to left Wing and Ravalawa to right wing will be the wingers we settle on.
Centres
Although I am sure our we will start with Bird on the left and Lomax on the right, once Bird is match fit and confident, I believe he will move to the right edge in the forwards. I am tipping Max Feagai to be our left centre long term.
Halves
Griffin has stated he wants to start with Norman and Hunt in the halves. Well in round 1 it will be Hunt and Clune given that Norman is suspended and Sullivan is injured however, I have very little doubt that we will end up with a Hunt / Sullivan halves combination that will be the talk of the competition.
Lock
To have any chance of even making the top 8, we will need De Belin at lock. If De Belin becomes unavailable, season 2021 will be a season preparing for 2022.
Edge Forwards
Although I have little doubt that in the early rounds our edge forwards will be Sims and Ford, once Bird is match fit and confident in his knee, he will move to the right edge.
Props
We are desperate for a big strong top grade prop to lead our pack of forwards but for now we will need to work with the players we have however, to make the top 4 it is essential that recruitment secure such a prop by round 5. I am tipping that there will be chopping and changes to our run on prop combinations and that Vaughan's mortgage on 10 jumper is not a given. However, we will most probably start with Vaughan and Kerr in the early rounds and then hopefully run with the new prop and Vaughan long term. Until then our bench will need to be stacked with at least 3 forwards who can play in the prop position and one of which who can play in the backrow as well. So my bench would be Alvaro, Faamausili and Lawrie in the early rounds. Griffin is likely to experiment with a number of different players in the utility role.
Hooker
I was very surprise that Griffin did not appont McCullough as captain of the side but I an sure baring injury, McCullough will be our run on hooker for 2021 and will surprisingly be very effective in that role.
So even though I previously decline to select my top 8 until the first few rounds were completed, I can't resist the urge to have a punt now but reserve the right to change my mind by the end of round 5. So here we go:
Top 8
1. Souths
2. Penrith
3. Easts
4. St George Illawarra
5. Melbourne
6. Warriors
7. Canterbury
8. Canberra
Grand Final
Souths v St George Illawarra
No QLD teams in the top 8. Manly and Cronulla to fight it out for the wooden spoon.
