Here we are again. It has felt like forever, but I am sure we’re all glad to see the footy season come around once again.

Last year’s predictions ended up a mixed bag. Swap the Dragons with the Raiders as well as the Eels and the Knights and I think it’d be a good enough prediction.

As always, I’ll try to add some reasoning to my picks. Feel free to add your input in the comments section down below.

1. Melbourne Storm
I start off with Melbourne coming first in the regular season once again, the reason being that they still have a relatively unchanged team from last year. They seem to be the most consistent side during the regular season, and I doubt it will change while Craig Bellamy is at the helm of the club.

I also believe this will be Cameron Smith’s last year, and with the likes of Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr also leaving at the end of the year, it could be the last chance for the Storm to win the big one.

I’m also looking forward to seeing if Brandon Smith can replicate his All Stars form throughout the season, and I look forward to seeing rising star Ryan Papenhuyzen evolve his game.

2. Sydney Roosters
Another unchanged position from last year, the Roosters will remain in the top two for 2020. They just seem to be able to attract replacements for every loss from their roster.

I look forward to seeing how Kyle Flannagan performs for them. It may take him a while to adjust, but there were promising signs of what he can do in the World Club Challenge. If the Roosters can manage to keep their defence as strong as it has been the past two finals series, they’ll have no issues in winning games, as teams won’t be able to beat them just scoring one or two tries, especially with the best player in the world, James Tedesco, in their team.

One weakness I see for the Roosters is the lack of depth in the roster. This was evident in their preseason loss to Newcastle. Barring injuries, however, the Bondi boys will be liking their chances of a three-peat.

3. South Sydney Rabbitohs
One team in the news for their signings this season was the Rabbitohs. The signing of Latrell Mitchell is a great purchase. Hopefully he’ll stay out of the news now and be able to perform at the level we know he can perform at. One issue I have is that he isn’t a fullback. Going off his half in the Charity Shield, he was struggling under the high ball. He’d cause more damage in the centre.

The reason I have South Sydney third as opposed to higher is due to the huge loss in their forwards in Sam Burgess and a lot of experience in John Sutton. Yes, they have signed Jai Arrow, but that’s not until 2021. If they managed to get him this year, they’d be first on the list.

While there are losses in their forward pack, they still possess Cameron Murray and still have Damien Cook, who’ll rely on his forward pack to power through their opposition to create gaps in defences that he will exploit.

4. Parramatta Eels
The team that’s been touted as premiership dark horses by most, Parramatta will be hoping to finally break the longest active streak of years without a premiership. They have added many tools to achieve this both in their roster and on their coaching panel.

Parramatta fans like myself were upset when we heard the news Manu Mau was heading to the Super League. We were losing a club legend. But the good news is it freed up a spot for an upgrade: Ryan Matterson. The Parramatta junior showed at the Tigers the quality he possesses, being one of the reasons the Tigers were so close to making the finals last year. If he can replicate this form, it will help a younger Parramatta forward pack develop and cause problems for defences on the edges.

The addition of Andrew Johns as halves coach will help evolve both Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown’s games. They’ve shown in the finals game against Brisbane what they can do, and hopefully they bring that over to the next season.

The biggest thing Parramatta must fix to be premiership contenders this season is their away form and poor starts, last year opening the season 3-4. While they have been relatively poor this preseason, losing one game and drawing the other, I think they’ll hit form once they play their season opener at Bankwest.

5. Canberra Raiders
Definitely last year’s surprise package, the Canberra Raiders were very close to winning it all in 2019 and will try to go that one step further this season. Canberra’s biggest strength is their powerful forward pack.

I thought the losses of both Junior Paulo and Shannon Boyd would be their downfall, but they seemed to upgrade their forward pack completely. The use of their powerful forward pack busting up the middle gave opportunities for their back players, like Jack Wighton and Aidan Sezer, to sign. The Raiders also have the luxury of the easiest schedule (according to the 2019 data) among the 16 NRL teams.

The issue I have with Canberra is they lost a massive player in Aidan Sezer. While they did replace him with a great player in George Williams, I believe it’ll take time for him to adjust to the spine and playbook of the NRL.

6. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
The last team close to a certainty making the top eight, Manly, under the guidance of Des Hasler and the stars in the spine in Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic, will be dark horses for the premiership.

When Tommy Turbo was in the side last year they were nearly unstoppable and won most of their games, whereas they struggled without him. Expect him to be the spark maker for a Manly side that so badly needs him.

One issue the Sea Eagles will experience is the challenge of the depth in their roster. They have on paper the hardest start to the season of any team, playing the Roosters, Storm, Raiders and Warriors in New Zealand. They have to play these four games while missing Jake Trbojevic, Addin Fonua-Blake and Manase Fainu. While they have got Danny Levi to replace Fainu pending the outcome of his court case, it does seem like a downgrade as Fainu showed brilliance last year.

7. North Queensland Cowboys
I keep tipping the Cowboys in the eight, and the last two years they disappointed me, but this year feels different. I genuinely believe this team has the capability to finish in the top four. They bought very well this off-season, with the buys of Valentine Holmes and Esan Masters, and more importantly they have a new stadium to play in. If they can make their new stadium a fortress, like the Eels with Bankwest last year, they could be a good chance of a top-four finish.

Coen Hess in the preseason has looked like the machine of past, and with Jason Taumalolo leading the way the boys from up north have a forward pack any team would like to have.

My largest issue for the boys is their spine. Michael Morgan is a tad overrated, Jake Clifford is still young, Jake Granville is a good enough dummy half – if Reece Robson plays, he’ll be inexperienced – and it may take a while for Holmes to adjust to the NRL again. I’ll reiterate the Cowboys are probably the most unpredictable team on this list.

8. Brisbane Broncos
I struggle to see anyone who is a genuine shot at winning the flag this year from eighth to 16th on last year’s ladder. I am also struggling on where to place the teams ranging from eighth to 15th. The only reason I give the Broncos the eighth spot is that most their players are young and they’ll only improve as a team. With another year and 20-plus games of experience under their belt, the Broncos should theoretically improve. The addition of Brodie Croft can also be a huge buy, as they struggle to create any attack last year. Croft could be that spark.

The question, however, is whether the Broncos improve, especially when playing in Sydney. Or will the scars of that massacre Round 1 of the finals last year haunt them all season? If they don’t improve, expect star players like David Fifita to look for contracts elsewhere and Anthony Seibold to be out of a job.

9. St George Illawarra Dragons
Last year’s largest disappointments, I expect things to slightly improve for the Dragons. I think the addition of Shane Flannagan, as much as I dislike cheaters, was a great addition. I expect him to take the reins at St George once he is allowed to start coaching again in 2022.

In terms of players, Trent Merrin should add to a forward pack that seemed to burn out during late in the season, and Issac Luke should be able to cover the dummy half position off the bench for Cameron McInnes.

Speaking of McInnes, the reason I have the Dragons out of the eight is due to their large injury toll for the first half of the season. McInnes, Matt Dufty and Korbin Sims are the biggest names on the list. The back five was also a large problem for St George last year and seemed to make critical errors that led to tries. If the back five improve and the forward pack plays like they should play on paper, it should allow Corey Norman and Ben Hunt to play more freely and to the potential we know they both possess.

10. Penrith Panthers
The boys from the west have lost one key member in James Maloney, who was known as the most clutch player by some NRL fans. Now there is one question on everyone’s minds: can Nathan Cleary live up to his potential and lead the Panthers? If he can step up his game like he showed glimpses of in the preseason, Penrith will make the eight. I’m just not sure he’s old enough to lead them yet, and with eighth to 15th being so tight, I see Penrith finishing here.

The signing of Apisai Koroisau is a positive one, as he was a bolter for the New South Wals Origin spot a couple of times while with Manly. How will he adjust to a new system? Zane Tetevano also joins after a couple of premierships with the Roosters.

Overall Penrith have a decent list on paper, but a lack of experience in key positions for me is the biggest issue with them.

11. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)[/caption]

12. Newcastle Knights
The Knights were another team that could be classified disappointments from last year. They seemed to burn out the second half of the year and became relatively easybeats. Unlike years gone past, the Knights haven’t added a big-name player to their roster, and for this reason they’ll struggle. The loss of Nathan Brown as coach is also detrimental.

I can see a new coach at a struggling team starting off well but going downhill quickly. I am also not sure how Kalyn Ponga’s headspace is. Instead of speaking about the upcoming season, a lot of talk surrounding him has been about him joining the All Blacks for the next rugby World Cup. I don’t think Mitchell Pearce can run the whole show for Newcastle by himself consistently for the whole season.

13. Wests Tigers
The Tigers were so close to breaking their finals drought last year but fell just short on the last day of the season. The reason they’ll drop so far is that they’ve lost big-name players without replacing them. While they did replace Esan Marsters with Joey Leilua, which in preseason has looked good, they lost a huge chunk of experience in Robbie Farah and Ryan Matterson, their highest-valued player from last year.

They did add Adam Doueihi and Luciano Leilua to their rosters, which are both very positive signings, but they did enough to fill big holes. Their forward pack, besides Leilua, is smaller compared to other teams, and that’ll be their downfall.

14. New Zealand Warriors
I know, I know – they still possess Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, and Blake Green showed some sparks last year, but it’s a 17-man game and the Warriors don’t have the right tools all round to give a challenge to the top eight. They looked poor in their preseason games, and other their No. 1, they don’t really possess anyone who could be classified a game-changer.

The Warriors in New Zealand were very poor last year and had one of the worst home records in Warriors history. I would not be surprised to see Stephen Kearney out of a job at the end of the season, if not earlier.

15. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
No bias here. The Bulldogs’ late-season surge was incredible and they were close to achieving the top-eight status no-one expected them to reach. The problem was that the late-season surge was inspired by one man – Kieran Foran – and he’s already out for the whole year. The Bulldogs are still in a bit of a pickle with the salary cap crisis for now. I expect them to become a powerhouse again once they’re free to spend big money, but for now they have an inexperienced group of players in their spine, so I see them finishing the season with the least number of points scored out of everyone.

16. Gold Coast Titans
I give up on this team. On paper they should be so much better, but once again it seems anyone of some calibre who goes to the Titans turns average. I don’t know if it’s the humidity or distractions there, but they just can’t seem to get it right. How much will the news of Jai Arrow leaving affect them? Will Ash Taylor play like a million-dollar man? I’m not sure, but let’s hope Justin Holbrook can provide a spark and bring some of that magic he produced with St Helens. If they don’t start winning soon, the NRL really needs to consider relocating them, whether to Brisbane or Western Australia.

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Looking to the season, I think the Melbourne Storm will win the premiership. It will be the fairytale ending Cameron Smith has been hoping for, and Josh Addo-Carr and others will leave as champions. It may also be the last hurrah for Bellamy coaching them if they win it. Who knows?

I look forward to the start of the season. Once again, please add your comments down below. Go the Eels!