Where your club will finish in 2017

THE squads are set, the pre-season and trial matches are done. Now it’s time for the 2017 NRL title race to begin. PHIL ROTHFIELD predicts where your club will finish.

Buzz Rothfield rates your NRL team.

THE Daily Telegraph’s sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield gives his verdict on how the 16 NRL teams will end up in 2017.

1 Cronulla

We tipped the Sharks to win before Ben Barba quit to join French rugby. Still, they will be losing nothing with Valentine Holmes in the No.1 jersey. I’ve said all along the biggest danger for the premiers is complacency. Will they be as hungry as last year? Will Shane Flanagan be able to get them up again, every game, every round. Will they get the best out of Tony “T-Rex” Williams? How much will they miss Mick Ennis? There are a lot of question marks. Still, the likes of Jack Bird and Holmes will be even better players for the experience of last year.

Back-to-back for the Sharks? Buzz certainly thinks so.

2 Panthers

This is without doubt the most exciting young side in the competition and a team that will grow in confidence and stature as the season progresses. James Tamou will add the mongrel that was missing last year in the really tough games to give boom halfback Nathan Cleary, utility Bryce Cartwright and Matty Moylan a better platform. Then throw in Kangaroos duo Josh Mansour — when he’s back from injury — and Trent Merrin and some of the youngsters from the best junior nursery in the game. This side is capable of going all the way.

3 Melbourne

Any side that made the grand final last year and has a fit Billy Slater to return is going to be in the mix and likely the top four. Every season for the past few years I’ve made the mistake of writing off the Storm as Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Slater got older and had to play Origin on top of club commitments. And every year they prove us wrong. Really looking forward to Cameron Munster playing in Blake Green’s old five-eighth role. He’s got the confidence, the ability and the footy nous to make it work.

Cameron Munster has a big role to play in 2017.

4 Cowboys

It should be another huge year for the Cowboys, especially without the pre-season hassle of a trip to England for the World Club Challenge. It has been shown many times before that the trip to the northern hemisphere is too taxing on premiership-winning sides. This club may have lost Ben Hannant and James Tamou from the pack and it’s a lot of experience to lose. But any pack with Matt Scott, Gavin Cooper and Jason Taumalolo demands respect. Also can’t wait to see Kalyn Ponga. He is the best young player to emerge for years and will force his way into the side even if coach Paul Green is upset about him joining the Knights next year.

5 Raiders

Far and away the most improved side in the competition last year and there is no reason to suggest the Raiders can’t go even closer to winning the title, despite losing inspirational skipper Jarrod Croker for the opening rounds of the competition with a knee injury from the All Stars game. They have a huge pack, a great hooker in Josh Hodgson, good halves and match-winners outside of them including Dally M centre of the year Joey Leilua, who will again be banging on the door for selection in the NSW State of Origin team. The addition of big Dave Taylor will add even more size and power in the forwards. Should be close to the top four.

Can Joey Leilua replicate his 2016 form with Rapana?

6 Warriors

This is the team that is capable of beating any side in the competition on its day. The problem is consistency — or lack off — and it’s why Stephen Kearney has come on board — to somehow get them performing at 100 per cent as often as possible. How far they go will depend on how five-eighth Kieran Foran handles his return to the game. He is the steadying influence this side has been crying out for. For all the Shaun Johnson brilliance, plus the return of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at fullback, this football team desperately needs Foran steering the ship. He is the one who could single-handedly turn them into a genuine premiership threat.

7 Eels

This team showed last year they have the ability to play finals football and would have made the play offs but for losing 12 competition points in the salary cap scandal. So what’s happened to suggest they cannot do it again in 2017? Nothing. They might have lost Kieran Foran in the halves but he was hardly there last season. They have recruited well by signing Josh Hoffman from the Titans to play at fullback or centres, depending on where Bevan French starts. Nathan Brown and Frank Pritchard are handy additions to the forwards depth. If Brown can keep the rubbish out of his game, he could be anything as he showed at the Rabbitohs last season. This side has definitely has the right coach in Brad Arthur and enough roster quality to make the top eight.

Bevan French needs to make the fullback role his own.

8 Roosters

Look out for the big improvers on last year. Everyone knows they played without Mitchell Pearce, Boyd Cordner and Jared Waerea- Hargreaves for the first 10 weeks and never really recovered. It will be a different story this season. They have picked up two handy players from arch-rivals South Sydney in Paul Carter and five-eighth Luke Keary. Plus, Connor Watson is fast emerging as one of the best young players in the competition. Keary will take time to work up a combination with Pearce but he’s a brilliant player who will add stacks of points to their attack. They should make the finals.

9 Broncos

Has Wayne Bennett still got it? He’s won seven titles but his more recent record, especially leaving the Newcastle Knights at rock-bottom, is no good. I can’t understand his decision to sign Benji Marshall. Where is he going to play? Does he still have the speed and the hamstring strength? How could he possibly improve last year’s team? The other question mark is over the halves. The Brisbane media jumped the gun last year and said this was the next Langer-Walters combination. Please. Losing Corey Parker and Jack Reed will potentially hurt. Korbin Sims is a handy late pick-up to add depth to the forwards.

Wayne Bennett has an uphill battle to turn the Broncos around.

10 Rabbitohs

You can never write off a side with Greg Inglis, Sam Burgess and Adam Reynolds but I’m wondering where they can improve from last season. Outside of a major shake-up of Michael Maguire’s coaching staff and the signing of Robbie Farah, there has been little movement on the recruitment front. Souths got their act together far too late last year when the season was all over. They desperately need Tom and George Burgess to recapture their 2014 form if they are to make the finals.

11 Bulldogs

The obvious weakness is in the three major playmaking roles — Josh Reynolds, Moses Mbye and Michael Lichaa — who all struggled last year to get any decent cohesion in the Dogs’ attack, which was too predictable and sluggish. You can have all the power, size and strength in the forwards but it means nothing without the halves to get the backline going. It’s an area Des Hasler has worked overtime on throughout the season and you can expect to see a far different pattern and structure. They have not signed any big-name players and will be fielding much the same side as last year.

Bulldogs Josh Reynolds in action during one of the trial matches.

12 Titans

It’s hard to see a lot of improvement considering the experience they have lost through Josh Hoffman, Greg Bird, Luke Douglas and Nathan Friend. They have also lost handy wingers Nene Macdonald and David Mead. So much will depend on how much impact Jarryd Hayne has at fullback. He should be better for having a full off-season on the Gold Coast and more time to re-adjust from his stints in the NFL and rugby union. The signing of Kevin Proctor in the forwards is a bonus. So too the return from injury of boom playmaker Kane Elgey. Somehow, coach Neil Henry has to find halves positions for Elgey, Dally M rookie of the year Ash Taylor and Tyrone Roberts. Roberts looks like being the odd man out.

13 Sea Eagles

A lot of experts have already written off Manly but there is plenty of confidence within the side. With a settled halves combination of Daly Cherry-Evans and Blake Green, they should do more in attack, even with the retirement of old backline stars Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon and Steve Matai. The interesting signing is winger Akuila Uate from the Knights. If he can recapture any of his form from three years ago, he’ll be a super acquisition. I have been worried about the Manly pack more than anything else. Last year’s new signings Nate Myles and Marty Taupau disappointed. At least their new signing from the Bulldogs, Lloyd Perrett, the brother of Sam, has trained the house down and could be one of the buys of the year.

Akuila Uate hopes to revive his career at Manly.

You can spend all day looking but it’s impossible to find areas where this footy team can improve on last season. So much will depend on whether coach Paul McGregor is prepared to take a gamble on rookie halfback Jai Field. Josh McCrone is the safer option but the Dragons needs something more special. They have lost a stack of experience with the departures of Ben Creagh, Benji Marshall and Mitch Rein but have failed to sign any elite players. Their attack was atrocious last season and it’s hard to envisage much of an improvement unless the rookie halfback can doing something extraordinary.

15 Wests Tigers

No, no, no, no, no. These boys finished just short of the top eight last year after a late-season rally but have been quiet on the recruitment front. Centre Jamal Idris and hooker Matt McIlwrick from the Sharks are the only new signings. I’m not convinced, even with Aaron Woods up front, that they have enough in the forwards. Who is going to lay the platform for Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco. Expect much speculation over their futures as the season starts. The coach Jason Taylor is off contract, too. They need early wins.

Wests Tigers players Aaron Woods and James Tedesco hold the key for the Tigers.

16 Knights

The team Nathan Brown fielded last year wouldn’t have beaten many NSW Cup sides. Yep, that’s how bad they were. At least they’ve picked up some handy new forwards in Rory Kostjasyn, Anthony Tupou and Jamie Buhrer from the Sea Eagles and offloaded old-timers Jeremy Smith and Kade Snowden. The positives from last year are that so many rookies got a taste of the NRL and will be better for the experience. Expect the Knights to win more than one game but it’s hard to imagine they can climb any higher on the table.

Originally published as Where your club will finish in 2017