So, three weeks in, we have an indication of where this season is going.
Sitting here at the free WiFi station of a comfortable hotel in deepest Calabria, where computer keyboards dont have apostrophies, I am able to prognosticate without having seen a single game, and with all the clarity that three Hienekens and half a bottle of excellent chianti bring to any deliberation.
As I see it, seven of the teams in first grade are competitive at this stage, Neds, Cott, Pally, Uni, Wests, Kala and Soaks. Perth is borderline, and Wanneroo is a basket case. Rockingham is of course gone.
However the true indication of where these sides will end up at the business end of the season is the progress of their respective second grades. No matter how good your first 15 are, At least half will suffer injuries, job relocations, dummy spits etc for varying periods of time.
In a normal season this is not a huge problem; most clubs have had the depth to carry things over.
But no matter how you look at it, this is far and away not a normal season. Most clubs are unable to field colts. I predict the colts will be canned this year due to insufficient numbers, thanks partly, but not entirely, to Nedlands successful efforts in poaching colts age players from several weaker clubs. I hope it cost them a fortune.
Third grade has started late due to the lack of ability of several clubs to field teams
Fourth and fifth grade had not even started, two weeks into the season, and look to be constituted mainly of a motley crew of rugby pensioners dragged out of long earned retirement. I hope their insurance premia (and surcharges) have been paid up.
Wests dont have enough players to be competitive in seconds, Uni have been unable to afford to buy enough players for thousands of secret reasons, Wanneroo are a double basket case, and the rest just do not have the quality or depth of players to be competive at anything but a level far lower than in previous years. I include Kala and Perth in that category, and even Neds, Soaks and Cott are having issues. At this stage only Palmyra appear to have at least kept abreast of last years standards, but that too is problematic due to the difficulty of assessment in a very poor standard of overall competion.
So, getting back to my initial obsevations, I predict that notwithstanding their current positions on the ladder, the final four will be Soaks, Cott, Nedlands and Palmyra, not necessarily in that order. And all because of the weakness of the second and lower grades.
What went wrong, who do we blame for the situation?
Ill let the usual apologists explain that away in the face of the bleeding obvious.
