Raiders' shot at redemption

Picking winners from week to week is hard enough let alone sticking your neck out before a ball has been kicked to try to come up with who will make the top eight and where the teams will finish.

But for the sake of the exercise and at the risk of having egg on my face come September, here is how I think the competition will unfold this season and who will still be alive and kicking when the big end-of-season games roll around.

Premiers:

RAIDERS

At the risk of being labelled biased, I think what happened at the end of last season will be haunting the Raiders but it will also be a great motivator for this season. There is a question mark with the loss of Joey Leilua, Jordan Rapana and Aidan Sezer but I think two of their replacements in Bailey Simonsson and George Williams will be great cover.

Englishman Williams has been really impressive from all reports and I think the Raiders are actually a stronger team because they have been developing over the past couple of years. Falling agonisingly short last season will inspire them. They have one of the best hookers in the game in Josh Hodgson, Jack Wighton is one of the elite players in the game now and if those two can stay healthy, they can go one better this season.

Runners-up:

ROOSTERS

They have the added pressure of trying to pull off the three-peat but talent-wise, they have the best player in the game in James Tedesco, a wonderful forward pack led by their front-rowers Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Siosiua Taukeiaho and captain Boyd Cordner. They also have an elite playmaker in Luke Keary.

The question marks for me about them centre on how much are they going to miss a strike player out wide like Latrell Mitchell and just how smoothly Kyle Flanagan settles into the halfback spot now that Cooper Cronk is gone. He's a relatively young guy who won't have ever faced the sort of pressure he is going to be under in the big games at the end of the year.

3RD: RABBITOHS

Souths will field one of the most exciting backlines we have seen in a long time with the addition of Mitchell at fullback. I'm not expecting him to be firing on all cylinders until later in the season when he gets used to the role and is fully match fit but he is a wonderful talent. The good thing about the move for Souths fans is he is going to be in the game a lot more as a fullback than he was as a centre and he'll be a sensational pick-up.

My only concern about Souths is their depth. Their 1-17 is strong but they could be a middle forward short with the loss of Sam Burgess, which is a huge

hurdle to overcome, particularly if they pick up some injuries.

4TH:EELS

With the additions of Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Ryan Matterson, the Eels have a much harder edge to their forward pack. They have a pack now who can mix it up. They have some ball-playing ability, they can play that power game through the middle but the key to the Eels will be what Mitch Moses produces off the back of all that.

Playing with that control he had last year and with Joey Johns working with him closely, I think Moses will become even more consistent this season and recognise he doesn't need to over-play his hand. If he gets that balance right, the Eels are going to be very hard to beat.

5TH: SEA EAGLES

Manly has one of the premier forward packs in the competition who won't be overawed against any opposition.

Throw in the premier halfback in the game right now in Daly Cherry-Evans and fullback Tommy Trbojevic, in my mind one of the game's best players, and you have a side who can potentially go all the way this season under Des Hasler.Trbojevic is the key for mine. When he was on the field last season, the Eagles won 10 of the 12 games he played so if they can keep him on the paddock and injury-free, he is a superstar with the capability of winning games on his own.

6TH: STORM

I've fallen into the trap of leaving them out of my top eight for the last two years, thinking their run would have to end. They've just continued to make me look like a goose. So I'm not going to fall for that three years in a row.

They still have the most influential player in the game in Cameron Smith and one of the best coaches of all time in Craig Bellamy along with an elite player in Cameron Munster and they never seem to drop their standards down there so I am sure they will be ready to go.

7TH: COWBOYS

I think Paul Green's boys will really respond after a poor season in 2019 and will sneak into the bottom half of the eight. Valentine Holmes is back in rugby league and gives them that X-factor and I'm really optimistic Michael Morgan can rediscover the form of a couple of years ago when he was the best player in the game. That will be the key for them.

Their forwards, led by Jason Taumalolo, line up as well as any team and they have enough strike power out wide to be a force if Morgan excels. Another big factor for them is their new stadium up there in Townsville where I'd expect them to win a lot of games and be very hard to beat.

8TH:KNIGHTS

The Knights have a new coach in Adam O'Brien and everything I am hearing out of Newcastle is positive about how well they have trained, how hard they have trained and how well prepared they are. They have promised plenty over the past 18 months but haven't delivered but I think that is about to change.

They have two of the best players in the game in Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga and they are strong up front with David Klemmer and Daniel Saifiti providing a platform. Provided he stays healthy, I think Ponga will have a big season and all the off-season talk has been around the squad being tougher mentally with a harder edge, particularly in defence. If they get that right, they are going to be up there.

The rest:

The next best for mine will be the Broncos, Panthers and Tigers, who, if they get it right, could be finals bound. As for the rest, including the Dragons, I just can't see them figuring but, like I said at the top, the beauty of our game is its unpredictability. That should give every fan at least a glimmer of hope.