At a glance: Two-time wooden spooners battling to avoid the hat trick. I stress battling…
Coaches prediction:
8th: 3 coaches
9th: 2 coaches
10th: 3 coaches
Projected best 22:
| Pos | Player | Proj. |
| B | Matt Scharenberg CW – B | 80.6 |
| B | Angus Brayshaw ME – B,C | 79.2 |
| B | Jayden Hunt ME – B | 75.6 |
| B | Ryan Clarke NM – B | 74.7 |
| B | Riley Bonner PA – B | 74.5 |
| B | Nicholas Coffield SK – B,C | 64.8 |
| C | Lachie Neale FR – C | 104.3 |
| C | Patrick Cripps CA – C | 103.8 |
| C | Jack Viney ME – C | 98.1 |
| C | Zak Jones SY – C | 81.2 |
| C | Mark Blicavs GE – C | 79.2 |
| C | Sam Powell-Pepper PA – C | 75.2 |
| C | Andrew Brayshaw FR – C | 74.4 |
| C | Matthew Kennedy CA – C | 74.2 |
| R | Jarrod Witts GC – R | 90.5 |
| F | Jack Martin GC – F | 86.6 |
| F | Jordan De Goey CW – F | 83.4 |
| F | Alex Neal-Bullen ME – F | 82.3 |
| F | Blake Acres SK – C,F | 80.2 |
| F | Caleb Daniel WB – C,F | 78.4 |
| F | Christian Petracca ME – C,F | 77.7 |
| UTL | Sam Petrevski-Seton CA – C,F | 72.1 |
| 1791 |
The MVP: Lachie Neale. The runner-up in the inaugural Dangergawn race had a down year, but an injury free start to the new season will have coach Bridge dreaming of silverware (just not the type most of the coaches are pursuing). One coach has backed Neale to go one better than he did in 2016, and he probably won’t face too much competition from his teammates for votes. Unless you ask the coach who backed Patrick Cripps – making them the only team to have two different players nominated for the ‘gawn. It’s probably not a ridiculous assertion, as in each season to date a Dangergawn medallist has emerged from a team who missed the finals.
The Breakout Candidate: Take your pick. The Soldiers are flooded with young talent in all positions. If even half break out the Soldiers will be a different proposition heading into 2019. Forced to nominate one, we’ll go with Christian Petracca, who will be the poster boy for a forward line that – just quietly – may just be the most desirable this side of the Tasman.
The Bottom Line: Will be hoping to avoid that third spoon, and The Bailout Plan may just save them from that fate. Young talent on every line means coach Bridge will be more optimistic than most at the foot of the ladder heading into the future, but at the foot he is likely to remain in 2018.