Eels Blogs

Here is the second part of my team predictions. You can find the first part here.

Storm – I think age is finally catching up with the Storm, but this team is still deadly. They’ll still thrash some teams on a dry Sunday field a few times next season. They should do well, but perhaps their inevitable downfall has already begun. Expected finish: top four and a chance at the title. Realistic finish: top four and should run deep into the finals.

Cowboys – The disappointment of 2013. This team should do well. They are full of rep players and are tough to beat at home. Yet now they have a rookie coach who is a bit of an unknown. This makes things hard to predict. The safe bet would be to say that they’ll put up a good fight for most of the season only to just fall short. Then again, they could surprise everyone and entrench themselves in the top eight. Expected finish: not sure. Should they be expected to go better than 2013, which means comfortably making the finals? I don’t think that’s fair, based largely on their rookie coach. Realistic finish: maybe hovering around 8^th, but more likely to finish around 10^th. But with the talent they have they could be the dark horse. I doubt it though.

Souths – So close yet so far for the Bunnies in 2013. Can they go one better? This team is tough and should have another great year. I will say, though, that Inglis is a bit injury prone which is rather concerning. Expected finish: top four, perhaps top two and a grand final appearance. Realistic finish: top four again for sure and a chance at the title.

Roosters – It’s rare that you see such dominance over a season like the Roosters were in 2013. They were pretty much untouchable, similar to how the Storm were in 2007. The Roosters pose a great chance of going back-to-back. Their plan for short-term success has certainly worked. Expected finish: top four and maybe minor premiers again. Realistic finish: top four and a good chance at the title.

Knights – Definitely a team on the improve, or at least they should be. The Knights are slowly being moulded into a Bennet coached side: strong defence and structured attack that is hugely dependent on his pet Darious Boyd. They are nearly impossible to beat at home. Expected finish: top eight no excuses, and maybe to challenge for the top four. Realistic finish: can’t see why they won’t make the finals, but we can already see that I’ve penned in a number of teams to make the finals, which means some are going to fail. I don’t think it will be the Knights though.

Warriors – The most unpredictable side ever. I wouldn’t be surprised where this team finishes, whether it’s first or last. The Warriors will probably look certainties to make the finals for much of the season, but could end up anywhere. Still not sure if Matt Elliot is the right coach for this team. Expected finish: with the injection of Sam Tomkins expectations will be for them to make the top eight. Realistic finish: I’m not even going to try. 4^th-13^th.

Tigers – Considered to be going through a bit of a transition period. We’ve seen firsthand that when that sort of terminology is used it means you can expect your team to do poorly. The Tigers will field perhaps the youngest team next year, which means remaining competitive will be difficult. To make things more difficult for themselves, they’ve decided to take some of their games to ANZ. I can’t see the tigers making the finals next season, and deserve to be considered candidates for the spoon. I think Robbie Farrah will be the only player who can save them from finishing last; if they lose him through injury they’re gone. Expected finish: the media was pretty brutal toward Mick Potter last season, so you can bet they’ll be less patient next year. They must improve or the media will skin this club alive. They might just get away with finishing 10^th or 11^th. Realistic finish: remaining competitive mentally will be the biggest challenge for this young squad, yet I fear they’ll lose touch toward the backend of many games which will make it extremely difficult for them to win. 14^th-16^th.

Eels – I might as well finish off with our team, yet it’s impossible to escape the obvious bias I have. It’s easy to entertain the idea that the Eels will click into gear and everything will fall their way as they march back into the finals. I don’t think so. I don’t think we’ll finish last again, but making the finals will be too far out of reach. The halves pairing is still unknown, and the forward pack, while improved, is still not strong enough to win us most games. I do think we’ll be strong out wide, however, and I also think that Peats will prove to be our most valuable recruit. Mental toughness will likely be our biggest issue, which could cost us a number of games. We also lack the necessary footy intelligence to win games. Brad Arthur? I would have chosen him over Taylor, but people should remember he was our defensive coach in 2012 and our defence that year was horrible. We shall see. Expected finish: what do you expect of a team that has finished last in two consecutive years? We won’t be expected to make the finals so quickly, but the media will apply the heat if it’s another bottom four finish for the fourth straight year. 10^th will earn us a pass mark. Realistic finish: bottom four is not out of the question. For the Eels to avoid that you have to ask what other four teams are we better than? I can think of a few but ultimately we are dependent on the misfortune of others so we can climb the ladder. Potentially as high as 10^th, maybe a little higher. Anything lower wouldn’t surprise much, but I’m happy to be wrong.