We go through every team's strengths and weaknesses ahead of 2019.
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They have one of the most promising rosters with a great combination of youth and experience. With a new coach and fresh approach to play smart attacking football, the Broncos will use this to their advantage like the way Rabbitohs played last year.
Anthony Seibold walks into a club and roster assembled by a rival coach. Who knows what kind of ticking time bomb Wayne Bennett has left behind for his successor?
Always be aware of the side that has nothing to play for and no one is expecting to win. The Bulldogs are well under the radar this season and nobody except the player's mothers are giving them a chance. With plenty of youth and position up for grabs, expect the Bulldogs to play fearless and give some of the contenders a headache.
Despite some smart buys with plenty of potential, it's hard to miss how much experience has walked out the door. The Morris boys, Moses Mbye, Aaron Woods and Greg Eastwood were all veterans that could stand up when things got tough. Bulldogs will need to punch above their weight if they want to contend for the top eight.
How good was Michael Morgan in 2017 when he led the Cowboys to the Grand Final. Now that Jonathan Thurston has retired, it is now his team. After a poor 2018, Morgan will be looking to bounce back and work his magic on the back of his power forwards Matt Scott, Jason Taumalolo and Jordan McLean.
They have the forward pack to match any in the comp, but will they have the finesse to finish with points. With the sacking of Ben Barba, whatever game plan has been thrown out the window and Paul Green will have a big task of coming up with a plan B and C.
The Dragons showed up until round 17 last year that they are premiership contenders including an impressive round 9 performance against the then reigning premiers, the Melbourne Storm. Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop formed an immediate combination on the back of strong mobile forward pack. Now throw in the attack of Corey Norman at fullback, he will be the missing piece they need at the back.
Will it be déjà vu for the Red V as they looked like a distant memory from their past selves in the second half of the season. They were hampered by their own success as players experienced burn out and teams started to pay more attention to the competition leaders. With a core of the squad expected to get chosen for representative honours, they will have a big task not to peak too early.
After a disastrous 2018 that was all too familiar with the Parramatta faithful, there is only one way for the Eels and that is up. They have attacking options on the wings with Blake Ferguson and Bevan French who can both start and finish anything as well as Mitch Moses who will stand up to the added responsibility of being sole playmaker.
Inexperience in the spine positions will hurt the Eels. Jaeman Salmon and Reed Mahoney in Five Eight and Hooker positions respectively showed some promise in the back end of the season when the Eels had nothing to lose but will face a mammoth task to create points for a team that lacked structure and cohesion.
Newcastle has assembled a great squad over the last 2 years. They showed glimpses of what they are capable of but expect them to take it to another level this season. Add in big signing David Klemmer, rising star Jesse Ramien and Kalyn Ponga with another full season up his sleeve and you have a recipe for a real dark horse this season.
They had incredible depth in the halves the last two seasons with Trent Hodkinson, Brock Lamb and Jack Cogger but have since lost them to rival clubs. Mitchell Pearce and Ponga will need to stand up and play consistent injury free football for them to have any chance to reach the finals.
The boys at the foot of the mountains have without a doubt the best juniors coming through the system. Every time a player gets injured or leaves the club, a bigger and more talent youngster fills the void faster than Gus Gould can say ‘No no no no no.’
The biggest question mark over the team performance will be how Ivan Cleary can make the team gel. They are on year 8 of their 5-year plan and Gus expects nothing less to be Premiers or at least top 4 contenders. The pressure will be on the Cleary’s to perform and get the best out of the Western Sydney nursery.
No one predicted for the Rabbitohs to go as well as they did under Anthony Seibold. There was a hop in the step last seen under Michael Maguire's first three seasons at the club. The Burgess boys were back at full confidence and senior players like Greg Inglis and John Sutton rose to the occasion. However, their greatest asset was the destructive dummy half running of Damien Cook. If you give him an inch, he will take every bit of that plus more
What sort of Wayne Bennett will the Rabbitohs be getting? Will it be the coach that led the Broncos and Dragons to seven premierships, or will it be the Newcastle Bennett that got it all wrong? He has the chance to build on what Anthony Seibold has started or deconstruct the side and mould the team into his vision. Only time will tell what will happen at South Sydney.