We should at east be fighting for the 8 this year.
Top 8 for me this year is
Top 6 basically guaranteed, but order can vary
- Storm
- Roosters
- Panthers
- Eels
- Manly
- Rabbits
Most likely from the rest
- Sharks (have improved and were on the brink last year)
For us to make the 8 there is probably 1-2 spots left... so are we better than:
- Knights (they look due to slide, but Clifford looked better as a 7 in the trials and they still have Ponga)
- Raiders (maybe now that Fogarty is out... I think they could slide further this year)
- Dragons (probably not... Sloan gives them strike and Bhunt was quite good last year)
- Titans (probably not... forward pack is already good and their spine has Sexton, Brimson and Campbell... untried but at least it's set in stone and has potential)
- Warriors (maybe... but they have SJ, Walsh, AFB, Lodge, etc... so they're no slouch)
Dogs have also improved, but whether they can get over the inneptness of Barrett is a question mark.
With the question marks we have in the spine it's still going to be a massive task for us to start competing for a place in the top 8