The Cowboys came within a game of back-to-back Grand Final appearances, and only a destiny driven Sharks outfit could end their dream.
Representative prop James Tamou has left the club for Penrith, while Ben Hannant has retired, meaning a slight change in personnel for the first time in three seasons.
Johnathan Thurston shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, and even debuted in the Auckland Nines, before tearing the World All-stars to shreds in the All Star clash last weekend.
Considering the likes of Kalyn Ponga, Gideon Gela-Mosby and Javid Bowen can’t crack the run on side says something about just how dangerous this side is.
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Weakness: Front row stocks low
Any side who loses two representative props without any major signings is likely to suffer up front.
Matt Scott is also another year older and now has to carry a huge workload if the Cowboys are to continue to blitz their way through opposition front rowers.
Scott Bolton and Patrick Kaufusi are hardly park footballers, although with all due respect they don’t possess the intimidation factor that Tamou had.
Coen Hess or John Asiata are likely going to have to spend time in the front row rotation, although Taumalolo could easily fill in if needed.
Strength: Back row blitz
If the front row is a slight weakness for this Cowboys side, the back row certainly isn’t and has probably surpassed the all-star halves combo as the side’s strength.
Jason Taumalolo is now the game’s best forward. The medal hanging around his neck at the year-end awards proves just that, as do his stats. His 60 tackle breaks in the regular season are enough to make defenders shudder.
Gavin Cooper has long been regarded as one of the best in the business and continues to form a lethal combination with Thurston.
Ethan Lowe had a career-best season in 2016, making mountains of metres, and scoring nine tries.
Best Player: Johnathan Thurston
Despite being 33 years of age, Thurston is still the premier player in the game, across all competitions.
Nothing that has not already been said, can really be added here, other than this future immortal is a true champion of our game, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Teams have for years, been trying to work out a way to stop the champion number seven, yet despite the Sharks bashing him out of the finals series last year, no one has been able to unlock the secret with any great consistency.
He will be driven on by the fact he was unable to create more history by leading his side to back-to-back title wins and could be even more dangerous as a result.
Under Pressure: Lachlan Coote
Coote, by his own lofty standards, didn’t have the greatest 2016 season and had a nightmare finals series.
He was shaky in the recent trial match, although I’m not one to take trial form overly seriously.
What is serious however is how often he made mistakes with the pressure on come the end of 2016, something he certainly didn’t do in the Cowboys premiership winning 2015 season.
Coote is a brilliant player and will surely rebound, however with Kalyn Ponga ready to announce himself as the game’s next superstar, the pressure is on.
Prediction: 5th
Despite the loss of two rep bookends, there isn’t a whole lot of difference in the makeup of this Cowboys side that provided the ultimate success in 2015 and came so close yet again in 2016.
They haven’t lost a whole lot, yet they haven’t seemed to gain anything too much either, and I suspect another season just like last season is on offer.
Thurston, Scott and co are another year older, while Linnett and co will be pressured by Ponga, Bowen and Gela-Mosby, but this side has picked itself for so long and continues to do so.
There is absolutely no reason this side can’t be there or thereabouts once again this season.
The hunger and emerging superstars in the sides above them amount to a prediction just outside the top four.