[ravadongon]

Now with the mid-season break is as good a time as any to see how my predictions have gone so far.

My Current BEST XXII:

B: W.Schofield, D.Glass, B.Jones
HB: A.Embley, B.Wilkes, A.Selwood
C: S.Butler, C.Fletcher, M.Rosa
HF: M.LeCras, A.Hansen/J.Kennedy, B.Waters
F D.Wirrpanda, Q.Lynch, B.McKinley

R: D.Cox, D.Kerr, M.Priddis

I/C: A.Hunter, B Staker, T.Stenglein, S.Hurn

Changes :

OUT: Seaby (form), Nicoski (form), Braun (form/injury/age), C.Jones (injury)
IN: McKinley, Butler, Wilkes, Schofield, J.Kennedy

2008 (Stat Leaders) Predictions

Embley is currently leading disposals (My prediction: Fletcher is 4th) and marks (my prediction Lynch is 2nd).

McKinley is currently leading the goal tally (my prediction: Lynch is 3rd)

Potential Step Up Year:

Neither Hurn or Staker has stood up yet.

No fault of Hurn as he endured a MT turned LT injury (fibula fracture) early on in the season and may not play again this year for WC (has yet to play any WAFL games and would've lost a lot of fitness).

Staker has been his usual inconsistent self and has spent a few stints in the WAFL.

No clear standout in this department so far - which has been one of WC major problems. McKinley would be the best candidate at this stage - though he's dropped off a fair bit since his excellent start.

Dreamteam Smokies:

McNamara - has risen only $36500 so far. Hasn't been given enough opportunities, but has proved he can be good bench scorer when he has. Looks set to rise significantly in the coming rounds, where he should be given an extended run.

Spangher - hasn't risen in value. Mysteriously dropped after some solid performances and then injured himself in the WAFL. Looks like he'll face an uphill battle to return to the WC team this year with the current form of Wilkes and Schofield.

McKinley - risen $52,100 so far (max of $60,900 in R10). Definitely my best prediction in this category (though McNamara's price rise should outdo him by the seasons end).

Nicoski - has fallen $4,500 so far (max of $48,400 in R11). Hope no-one took my advice here (I'm glad I didn't)! Had a terrible start after a very promising first game. His last 2 games have been very good from a DT perspective with 2 x 80+ scores and (if you still have him) looks set to do what you wanted him to do at the start of the season, in the following rounds.

Hurn - fallen $29,300 so far. Like Nicoski, hope no-one took my advice, as I didn't! Sustained a LT injury early in the piece. His last full game showed some promise (R5: 74), but apart from that he showed very little from a DT perspective.

LeCras - fallen $18,000 so far. Again, hope no-one took my advice.

The one's I missed have been the best value from WC: Ebert and Masten (although you won't be ruing missing out on them if you got Palmer ), with Davis, Houlihan and Butler also showing some good signs recently.

Most Brownlow Votes:

Cox should be WC leader at this stage (he's played all games and polled 7 in the TF Player Award so far, next best is Embley with 3), but it'll be hard enough for anyone to poll votes given the teams performance so far. Kerr (my prediction) has missed a lot of games through injury and suspension and has struggled at times coping with the no. 1 tag - he has played some vote worthy games (vs. Hawthorn/Fremantle/Sydney @ Subi) and he notoriously polls well.

Rising Star:

McKinley the leader so far, with Ebert, Schofield, Wilkes and Masten. Davis, Houlihan and McNamara (my prediction) with good form in the remaining games could be in there too.

Best first year player would be between Ebert and Masten (my prediction). Davis has been very good too.

General Comments:

Was fairly accurate here. The squad/team is definitely much younger (a lot of debutants/players with very little experience currently in the team) A lot of the core hasn't shown their experience through their performances with many struggling with injury and displaying inconsistent/poor form.

Apart from Kerr and Cox the midfield is definitely missing class badly. Priddis, Rosa and Fletcher can rack up the disposals, but their delivery lacks the high hurt factor that Judd and Cousins brought. Hopefully, it should be addressed in the upcoming draft by the recruiters.

Predicted Ladder Position:

Was way off here (predicted 6th). Finals hopes are long gone and a bottom 4 finish looks a certainty, with a wooden spoon not too far off the cards with Essendon's recent strong form, Melbourne and Fremantle's competitive efforts and Port are too good to finish that low.

Keys to moving up the ladder:

Looks like none of these have been addressed.

- Didn't get that strong start to the season (has gone downhill since the 2nd quarter of the opening game)
- Way too many injuries/niggles again!
- Cox has been outstanding, but apart from him no other senior player has put their hand up consistently enough. Embley has started to show something of late.
- The team isn't getting dominated at clearances, but the issue is the blokes winning a lot of the clearances (Priddis and Fletcher), lack class themselves and have no class to give it to apart from Kerr (who's missed a lot of footy) and Cox. Rebound from defence hasn't improved from last season (kicking in has been woeful), but I'm confident it should be better in the future with blokes like Schofield, Wilkes, B.Jones, Houlihan, Spangher, S.Selwood and Davis (and possibly McKenzie too - who does a good job of it in the WAFL) developing.