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Top 4:
Crusaders
Blues
Hurricanes
Sharks
In the mix:
Highlanders
Chiefs
Brumbies
Force
Stormers
Bulls
Dead beats:
Waratahs
Reds
Lions
Cheetahs
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I dont see how you can have the Tahs as dead beats?...they got STUFFED by injuries last year, and yea i know they played ****...but....with these new rules and with the youngsters with one more year under their belts i think they could be a real force this year...look maybe i will be proven wrong, but you cant call them dead bets...
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Even with the new rules I don't see any real talent (in the midfield) that could use this as an advantage. They are all slow and hardly line breakers. Sorry, but I really think it will be much of the same rubbish 'Tahs rugby as last season.
Same front row will mean more embarrassment in the scrums and will only put more pressure on an average back line, which will again cancel out these new rules (5m rule especially).
The Force will be the shining light for the Aussies, and could easily make the top 4. Brumbies might struggle without Mortlock, Larkham, Gregan... so another potential cellar dweller.
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The Brumbies may have lost a few experienced players but I wouldn't write them off just yet.
They still retain one of the best, and mobile packs in Australia (and maybe even the entire comp) - George Smith, Stephen Hoiles, Jone Tawake, Mitchell Chapman, Mark Chisholm, Adam Wallace-Harrison, Al Campbell, Guy Shepherdson, Saiaa Faingaa, Nic Henderson, Salesi Maafu. And hopefully these new rules should only help expose their strengths.
In the backline they've still got a LOT of talent - Josh Holmes, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Mark Gerrard, Clyde Rathbone, Julian Huxley and two of the best wings from the ARC - Fainifo and Playford. Plus Mortlock will be back halfway through the season. I'm not sure how they'll go but I'm confident that they'll at the least be somewhere in the top 7.
My only concern is who Laurie Fisher will put into the flyhalf and inside centre positions. Huxley is ok at flyhalf, but I think Lealifaano can do a lot more for them after he gets a few games under his belt. Also, Gene Fairbanks is so hot and cold and was probably the weakest member of the team last year. I'd like to see Anthony Faingaa eventually get a go, or maybe even a centre pairing of Mortlock/Rathbone, Mortlock/Ashley-Cooper, Ashley-Cooper/Rathbone.
The Waratahs on the other hand - they've got a big, slow forward pack that was hopeless last year without Waugh and Vickerman. I'm not sure if there'll be much improvement? And their backline is void of any real talent aside from Lachlan Turner. Tuqiri will continue to get no ball, Tahu will probably run sideways, and they'll put a lot of pressure on Beale to try and steer them through.
