Now the trade period has finished, and with a pretty healthy list (all players meant to be training before Christmas), I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how our best 22 is looking for next year.

I have Naismith coming back in as #1 ruck, Cunningham to take over the small defender role that Nick Smith did so well for so long and have tried to mix our midfield up a little.

McCartin Franklin Hayward
Papley Reid Parker
Blakey Heeney Florent
Lloyd Aliir Dawson
O'Riordan Rampe Cunningham
Naismith Mills Kennedy
Hewett Rowbottom Gray Taylor
Emergencies: Fox, Brand/Melican (to come in against taller forward lines for O'Riordan), Sinclair, Ronke

Pretty young and raw side but still one that I think is competitive. The rucks are our biggest weakness and the midfield the most intriguing. Will players like Heeney, Mills, Florent and Blakey step up to become absolute stars and win games off their own boot or are they still a few more years away?