Woodbridge Cup Corner: How the Central Western Daily's pre-season predictions stack up

Some, never stood a realistic chance, while others were the red-hot favourites.

Here at the Central Western Daily, we put together a comprehensive list containing everything fans needed to know to get them through the coming months.

Although it included words from each club's respective first grade coach, key signings and more, there was one element in particular that people were eager to take not of; ladder predictions.

We gave teams plenty of bulletin board material and no doubt angered a few in the process.

With just two rounds remaining, we thought it as good a time as any to look back on those predictions to see what we got right, what is still up in the air and most importantly, what we got wrong.

But to kick things off, we'll give ourselves a pat on the back for some of our better predictions.

Coming into the season as defending premiers, the Manildra Rhinos somehow looked even more dangerous.

Although they lost Ben McAlpine to the coaching corner, they added Joey Lasagavibau and Saulala Houma and boy, haven't they made a difference.

In our official pre-season ladder we said the Rhinos would finish the regular season as minor premiers and so far we've been spot on the money.

They currently find themselves one point clear at the top. The only team that looks a chance of knocking them off their perch is next up on our list.

Canowindra scored a massive 34-20 victory over the Condobolin Rams on July 16 as they continued their red-hot form.

This now puts the Tigers in second place - exactly where we thought they would be.

There's still a chance for them to move up and grab the minor premiership, with a game against Manildra during the final round of the season set to be a cracker.

To keep the top of the table streak alive, it's time to talk about Condobolin.

The Rams finished the 2022 season in seventh place, but some big name additions such as Jake Hadrill had them poised for a big year.

After their loss to the Tigers, they now sit in third place - where we said they would be - and shouldn't drop any lower than fourth.

Peak Hill's troubles this season have been well documented so we won't bore you with the details once again. In saying that, we picked the Roosters to finish the season in sixth - which says more about the strength of the competition than anything else.

In seventh is where they currently reside and looking at the competition schedule, it would be almost impossible for them to finish in fifth place.

But a sixth place result and a home semi-final is certainly not out of the question considering the two teams above them are playing each other this coming weekend.

The Roosters will likely need to win back-to-back games to end the regular season if they are to secure sixth spot, but even if they fail in that quest, we feel pretty good in calling a sixth place finish a correct call.

Grenfell just missed out on the finals in 2022 and we predicted them to go one better on this occasion.

With a stacked top half of the competition, just making the playoffs would be an accomplishment on its own.

Although the Goannas have enjoyed just four victories all season, that should be enough to see them finish in eighth position, right where we said they would be.

As you might be able to tell, the final round of Woodbridge action is set to be a thriller.

Because of this, a whole lot of teams can move up and down the ladder with a single win or two.

While this may make for great action on the footy field, it gives us a headache when recapping our pre-season list.

But we will persevere and highlight some of the clubs that can still prove us right or wrong depending on how you want to look at things.

We had faith that Trundle would finish in fifth. Although there's every chance we still get this pick right, there's also a possibility they keep their current position in fourth and avoid an elimination semi-final.

A tough run home could either be the best or worst thing to happen to Adam Hall's side.

Should they win their remaining games and earn what would almost certainly be a third place finish, the Boomers will go into the finals riding a wave of form.

Should things go the opposite way, they'll head into a 5v8 or even 6v7 semi-final coming off three straight defeats.

The fate of the Oberon Tigers and Orange United are linked in a way only matched by Manildra and Canowindra.

We anticipated the Warriors to finish seventh and last year's runners up to slot home a fourth place finish.

While the Warriors have so far outperformed that prediction as they sit in sixth, Oberon still have a bit of work to do to get out of fifth place.

Only one point separates the clubs and with the two teams set for a showdown on July 22, who knows where they will end up.

Although Cargo's league tag side has been a beacon of light for the Blue Heelers, the same can't be said for the men.

Having struggled for numbers in 2022, it was anticipated there would once again be a struggle this season.

We had them finishing with the wooden spoon, but they have managed to bag two wins and currently sit in tenth position with no chance of coming last.

Unfortunately for them, there is still a chance they fall to 11th should a result between the league's bottom two sides go against them in the final round. But they've avoided the wooden spoon this time around, which is always something to be proud of.

I think emotion got the best of us when we picked Eugowra to finish ninth.

After the devastation the town went through at the end of 2022, we probably put a bit too much faith in a story-book season.

While they did manage to pull off a monumental upset and draw against Manildra while they also secured a win against Molong, that would be the only success they would taste up to this point.

Currently in 11^th, there is still a chance they finish in 10^th, but realistically that's as high as the Golden Eagles will soar.

A tough run for CSU is the best way we can describe their campaign.

The Mungoes have lacked numbers through injury all season long and that culminated in a 62-0 defeat at the hands of Orange United over the weekend when they only managed to run out ten players to start the game - a figure that turned to nine during the match.

Despite this adversity, they have managed to beat our prediction of tenth to almost certainly finish in ninth. If they show this heart next year and have the player numbers to go along with it, look out for them to make a finals reappearance.

The last club on our list is Molong.

Similar to Cargo, the Bulls were always going to struggle with player availability.

We had them finishing 11^th and as bad as that may seem, reality is even worse.

They have given up 50 or more points in nine of the 11 games they've played and lay claim to a home-game forfeit in round ten.

The winless Bulls still have a chance to get themselves off the bottom of the ladder, but they'll need to win back-to-back games against Cargo and Eugowra to finish the season.

Check back in next week where we'll give our final power rankings of the season for both league tag and first grade.

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