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As we enter R7 we traditionally take stock & review what was over the previous 6 Rounds. Yes 6 Rounds is very little to gauge over the context of 18 Rounds but for the fun of random guessing we try to predict the future with very little to go off. This year has without question being the most difficult year in recent years to foresee anything past the next Round so we are extremely nervous about the predictions from the old trusty Predictor Machine. In fact we broke the machine during the week & got some amazing help through AI software to build up the predictions....don't ask me much about how we got here because it all went over my head.
Anyway here we go. The below is the 'predicted' (very loose term) of what R18 will look like given trends to date, historical home & away form, score differential, shots up, dominant rinks & those that have that 4th weaker rink & possibly plenty of random guessing. So after many many beers (probably too many) and inputting the strength/weaknesses of each side and scoring/predictioning the remaining 120 games individually we have come up with the following:
PredictionsR6R18Position
Kardinya44.5121.51st
Rossmoyne27647th
Leeming27644th
Manning25.582.52nd
Bassendean24.573.55th
Safety Bay23.574.53rd
Cockburn19.571.56th
Gosnells17.557.58th
Doubleview174510th
Mosman Park15569th
Wow look at the Kats, the Predictor Machine has them UNBEATEN for the entire season....highly unlikely but even if they don't break the 120pt mark, which nobody has in recent history, they still seem to be miles ahead of everyone else. The real humdinger is those Finals spots......boy of boy look at that spread from 3rd to 5th, 3pts in the difference....its razor tight. Surprisingly Manning are the run away's in 2nd spot, a full game ahead of the chasing pack, yet they are 4th now, so predictions seem to be bullish on them making a solid run for the season. Basso miss out on Finals but 0.5 pt which seems heart breaking but they have ample opportunity to get well more than 0.5pt over the next 12 Rounds. We cannot believe the run of Safety Bay, currently 6th & they finish 3rd. There must be some serious results in there to get them into Finals again & once there, they might have a serious chance given the teams currently in PL with teams in 1 White. Do not underestimate that factor when chasing the 2nd ticket to the big dance.
It's also with sad news that we confirm the departure of The View back to 1 Blue, followed by Mossies. Could this be possible? How can Doubleview become the whipping boys when they'd had the same amount of wins as the team in 2nd position on the ladder. Mossies also drop, surely they can't drop from 5th last year to 1 Blue? Very close for the play off spots with Mossies going down by 1.5pts so there's plenty of chances to change that outcome. Rossmoyne might have escaped demotional playoffs last season but they just edge into the dreaded zone this season & you would think them & Gosnells just might have enough firepower to survive against most 1 Blue side. Let's unpack the rest over the next week. We'll traditionally pull out the Predictor Machine 1 last time after R12 to check on the randomness of the above but we must say the above had some huge shocks for us as the results don't show until the very last input so you literally have no idea on trends & purple runs. We do expect 2-3 positional changes but overall, historically, it's been fairly accurate, although this year has been a huge anomaly so expect changes since the first 6 rounds are very biased towards the winning sides.
Let's be honest, there will be an absolute unhealthy bias towards Kardinya due to their performance to date, so that's given them a huge final score. If they don't maintain performance then this will have a significant impact on the table as a whole as they are dominating the Aggs every week. Similar to Doubleview who seem to somehow become the whipping boys when it's probably not that at the present time so please take it all with a pinch of salt & please remember it's all for a little fun.
Again as we always say, if you don't like the predictions then show up tomorrow & be the difference.

COCKBURN v GOSNELLS

COCKBURN
M Simunovic, D Gibson, D Bandy, D Gurr
M Abonnel, J Ricci, B Blagaich, B Dropulic
T Krajancic, J Marevic, I Mateljak, M Musulin
W Tepania, J Wylie, J Wray, G Reale
IN: D Gibson, B Blagaich, G Reale, K Wylie
OUT: L Only jnr, P Brotherston, D Ravlich, J Kop

GOSNELLS
R Foy, A Hodge, P Gale, D Bradbury
L Garbutt, R Bishop, T Close, R Worth
F Carbone, Daniel Newton, B Holland, M Byrne
G Lynch, C Hickinbotham, M Rickard, L Paterson
IN: T Close
OUT: I Farley

The Titans are screaming out for a big Agg after some mixed weeks, even though they did get a good away win within that, they still need to get a little purple patch going to get them into real Finals contention. The Kookaburra's have done as much as expected over the last few weeks as they stemmed the tide of 4 losses on the trot with a good win last week but their form at Cockburn isn't quite there to drive confidence that this game could get 1 sided very quickly.
Cockburn 8 - 0

SAFETY BAY v LEEMING

SAFETY BAY
G Smith, S Foran, G Hodges, A Ballard
G Taylor, C Owen, J Brannan, D Smith
C Carruthers, J Thorington, G Ogg, J Hanafee
M Mortensen, Z Boddy, T Southern, S Hide
IN: T Parker, K Cuttell, R Hall
OUT: G Ogg, S Hide, D Smith

LEEMING
G Fewings, P Dobie, B Eather, M Bowden
K Vandersluys, P Boys, T Higham, W Birrell
G Ford, J Bowden, D Johnson, N Bennetts
J Newton, G Burgess, A Andersson, L Mundri
IN: P Hickey
OUT: P Dobie

GAME OF THE ROUND: I like this game for the anticipation of the result as I think both these sides are genuine Finals contenders so this one should turn out to be a real benchmark for both sides. It is kind of one of those games that's hard to call as you might back the Bay at Home but also very comfortable to back the Lions in the corresponding fixture. If Leeming grabs an away win here it would speak volumes to whether they'll have a big say in Finals. The Bay are not putting teams to the sword like previous years so this one might be another close game for both sides.
Safety Bay 6 - 2

MOSMAN PARK v MANNING

MOSMAN PARK
C Hoffman, T Cranswick, J Townsend, M Whiting
M Cranswick, D Adams, S Carmody, D Burges
M Robertson, K Stower, M Bright, A O'Sullivan
S Swanson, J Adams, J Pallett, M Van Bemmel
IN: S Carmody, M Bright, J Pallett
OUT: P McGurk, R Kershaw, B Judge

MANNING
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IN:
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The Eagles should have a huge chance here against the Mossies, albeit away, they have enough wins on the board to be sitting 2nd. Mossies have won both Home games so you can't ask for more than what they have delivered but Manning have played 3 of their 6 away, winning 2, so after tomorrow they'll be 4 of 7 played away. So I think getting 3 from 5 away would be huge for them but Mossies are a tough side at Home & they are very aware how critical Home Agg will be to their survival. Tipping an upset in another close contest.
Manning 6 - 2

KARDINYA v DOUBLEVIEW

KARDINYA
S Novak, B McGrechan, D Comrie, C Booth
B Henley, D Flintoff, P Larard, T Leahy
M Allen, M Ngui, H Vriezen, S Garner
D Radford, C Stokes, A Cocodis, M Monteiro
IN: S Garner
OUT: M Holt

DOUBLEVIEW
B Heta, M Leed, M Fredericks, N Feletti
D Cosgrove, J Gilchrist, G Papadopoulos, T Mainstone
J Barry, D Hayden, D Leed, F Williamson
C McKenna, M Young, C Curham, A Bloxham
IN: C Curham, T Mainstone
OUT: M Marinko, E Taylor

Pretty sure we'll be going with the Kats at home no matter who the opposition is for the rest of the season. Does that put a target on their back, of course, but have any teams come close to touching them at home, probably not.
Doubleview are also struggling to get those 4 rinks humming & the cracks are starting to show. At home they have had 2 convincing wins but away from home they have not got close enough. With 4 home & 2 away played to date, dropping this one but a cricket score may start to raise some flags between here & Xmas.
Kardinya 8 - 0

BASSENDEAN v ROSSMOYNE

BASSENDEAN
A Southern, R D'Souza, P Hutchinson, N Kirkup
N Strachan, B Dinnison, A Britton, J Holman
E O'Sullivan, N Hall, G Malaspina, T Alden
S Jocelyn, T Lynch, D Killisch Von Horn, A Parravicini
IN: No change
OUT:

ROSSMOYNE
W Harvey, R Vind, G Maesepp, J Fitzgerald
C Edson, R Halse, N Edson, P Feszczak
R Lang, D Haddow, G Collier, A Regan
M Barrett, A Petchell, T Churcher, D Horniman
IN: P Feszczak
OUT: S Bartlett

Basso are a tough side to get your head around as they remain in games late but maybe do not get the chocs but nobody is really rolling them heavily which is a great sign. They absolutely need to pick up some big Aggs & this game is screaming for 1 of those.
The River Rats had a great away win recently to get that monkey off their back & they can absolutely put Basso under serious pressure if they bring their A game. At the end of the day Rossmoyne are sitting 2nd on the ladder so this will be no easy game for the home side.
Bassendean 6 - 2