FFC I was also half thinking Adelaide may be due for a bit of a fall this season. Not basing it on the friendly with Fury, but rather the change of the guard they have to a degree with quite a lot of new faces that will need to gel. They also will really need their new striker to work well with christiano, otherwise I think they will struggle for the firepower to seriously challenge.
Perth are having a solid pre season hit out and have an impressive squad. They have a lot to prove and this year they just may have the squad to do it.
Bling look to be much better organised under the new coach but they lack a pointy end in Johnny you would have to think. If he or Brosque score more than 8 this year I'll be pretty surprised and I can't see them seriously challenging without at least one prolific goal scorer in the ranks.
Gold Coast, impressive squad, resources and backing. But above all confident. If they get beaten a few times early, they'll come crashing back to earth, but some early wins and they could be a real force this year. (Welcome addition to the comp)
Phoenix, 1 strong signing, but still have not adequately replaced Smeltz imo (which is not easy) With their usual extra travel issues, pretty hard to see them in the top half of the table.
Jest, seems like anyone worth their salt has jumped ship or is trying to. They have always played with a lot of grit so may surprise, but can't see them in the top half either - lets nick the other Elrich for our right back and be done with them. :ashamed:
Roar, They are a good squad but the loss of (can't remember if it was Mc'kay or Murdocca?) either way, will be sorely missed in their midfield for the first chunk of the season. (Personally I'm quite glad to have the energizer bunnies on crack partnership broken up) Roar to challenge, but not to completely excel.
MV, solid, talented and well knit squad with excellent supporter base and home ground advantage. Will definitely challenge again this year imo.
Fury, haha, I actually don't care what they do, I just want to see bloody Fowler play!!! I don't even care if he's shite, I just want to see him run out at Bluetongue, that will be awesome all of itself. If thats not the sign of a good Marquee signing for a new club then I don't what is. But for Fergie's sake and the growth of the league I hope they place themselves somewhere out of the bottom four and into the finals.
Central Coast Mariners, What is it with those bloody coasties? Somehow they just never seem to be too far off the mix!? ;D Looks like we are being very active with trialists with some very good signs for our recruitment. Doig already equals a much stronger looking defence... add some more class in the mids... throw in a Matty thats come into his own (and may rise to even greater heights!) paired with a D Mac that I suspect will be up for a big year... and I think we will surprise and annoy as ever.
With a quality creative mid and another sharp creative striker (as opposed to our big men) I think we could win the lot. As it is, we will challenge yet again but may prove a gun or two shy. But I have to say with the inclusion of these new teams, even with the bloody home games/canberra fiasco, I am looking forward to this season more than any other so far. There have also been many quality and interesting signings across the league, and certainly the neutral matches are the most enticing they have been to me.
