We are now at the half way point of the season and the Blue South ladder is starting to take shape. Some clubs will be very happy with where they are sitting going into the Xmas break next Saturday whilst there are a few who are under real pressure. Let’s see how things are shaping up and see if we can make a few predictions leading into the second half of the season:
ARMADALE
clearly the team to beat and seem to be able to win on the road which is very important as evidenced by a strong victory at Safety Bay on the weekend. That said Kardinya are right behind them just a handful of points back and ready to pounce in case there is a slip up at some point. For now they remain the best side on paper and our number one seed.
Predicted Finish - 1st place
KARDINYA
Impressive start to the season with 7 wins and only 2 losses. They have a strong experienced side and are always very hard to beat at home. Look to be improving on the road and a lot will come down to the next two weeks when they take on top 4 side South Perth followed by the first match after Xmas when the take on Armadale AWAY. Could be somewhat of a mini grand final to kick off the 2nd half of the season.
Predicted Finish – 2nd place
ROCKINGHAM
Started the season strongly however recent form has been a bit mixed. Good to see them bounce back of the weekend with a strong win at home over Gosnells. They remain a dangerous side at home but will need to lift away from home if they want to challenge the top 2 sides on the ladder.
Predicted Finish – 5th place
SOUTH PERTH
Probably the one side who could emerge from the pack of chasing sides in the middle of the ladder. Sitting with a 5-4 win/loss record and this could have been a lot better apart from a couple of very narrow defeats. A quality side on paper who were surprisingly defeated by Rossmoyne on the weekend 8-0. They are better than that and expect them to improve over the 2nd half of the season.
Predicted Finish – 3rd place
SAFETY BAY
A great start to life in one blue from the recently promoted Safety Bay. A very strong home ground advantage and they generally take advantage of this. Defeated by Armadale at home on the weekend but they did secure 2 points. Provided they can hold things together I expect that they can remain around the mid part of the ladder come the end of the season.
Predicted finish – 6th position.
ROSSMOYNE
Interesting season to date with 5 straight losses followed by 4 straight wins. And not just wins, very strong wins as evidenced by an 8-0 result over the weekend against South Perth. They are certainly on a roll and Mayor Lang will no doubt be filling the players Xmas stockings to the top. With the confidence they all must have given the past few weeks I can only see them heading higher on the ladder.
Predicted Finish – 4th place
COCKBURN
Bounced back strongly on the weekend with a very credible 8-0 win against Willetton to drag themselves out of the bottom 2 on the ladder. They will rely on continuing to with their home games and ideally sneaking an away win in the run home. Can the Cockburn selectors hold things together as they do have 4 pretty good skippers who all take some beating.
Predicted Finish – 8th place
WILLETTON
I did not expect Willetton to be sitting this low on the ladder come the half way point of the season. They have copped a couple of hidings recently and the weekend was another disappointment with an 8-0 defeat at Cockburn. Can they bounce back and re-discover their top form over the 2nd half of the season? They will need to dig deep but very hard to predict how things will end for them.
Predicted Finish – 7th place
DALKEITH NEDLANDS
Just 2 wins from 9 matches so far this season and Dalkeith will really need to find something special come the 2nd half of the season. From memory they did dig themselves out of a large hole the previous season by stringing some wins together to save themselves from the gallows and can they do it again? On paper the back end looks reasonable but they are clearly not firing.
Predicted Finish – 9th place
GOSNELLS
Also not firing to this point with just 2 wins to date. Not probably what they were expecting after demotion from One White the previous season but some player losses have made it very hard for them to find their best form. Hate to say it but unless they can conjure up a miracle they could be sliding straight back to 2nd division.
Predicted Finish – 10th place
