Every away win will be crucial this season.

Tiggers well positioned. Would still drop some on Adelaide with those odds. Breakers look ordinary without the Spenda dropping threes.

At the end of the day, I reckon the final table and run to finals will be based on head to head. Once you're in finals, anything can happen

Wollongong, Adelaide, NZ = Good bets.

Melbourne, Townsville = Shocking bets.

The bookmakers have no idea, just ask Adelaide fans if Hodge is any good. If they had their way Tigers would be at $50 to win based on how good they think Hodge is playing in a team :P

Of course the 36ers aren't playing to their potential. For one thing, Burston's barely come back from injury and is the starting centre. Then Groves is hardly at his best either.

I think the top4 will be Perth, Gong, NZ, 36ers in some order. Can't win a championship if you don't make the playoffs and I honestly don't think Melbourne will.

Cats are unbeatable at the moment if they can beat NZ away on Thursday and come back home and beat Cairns on Saturday there will start to be a big gap between them and the other title hopes New Zealand and the Tigers .

Still think delisting Rogers and picking up a 10 point centre import is a good option . Big Red is having back problems and Sam Harris would not be able to hold down a starting 5 position

In this revamped league does anyone wonder how the Tigers can fit Hodge into their cap. I mean the line up the have is a pricey one, to fit him into it would love to see that looked into.

I'll be looking to put some dosh on the Sixers to win the whole thing.

I don't think sticking Hodge in a team should improve odds that dramatically. He barely improved our %, and we didn't have a Wortho type player that would potentially clash.

Time will tell. I'd donate good money straight into Gilly's bank account if he lit Hodge up for 30 odd points and we got the W.

Would that be the first time ever that the outright bottom team is still championship favourites after 7 rounds?

Roo Boy, more info on Schenscher's back please. I'm just about to trade Daniel Johnson for him...

i would put a bet on the tigers at $2.00 there is no way that they can lose this year with their roster i mean the only team with a chance of beating them is the breakers. they could win without hodge but his addition makes it that much harder for the rest of the field.

I agree with anon re. the Sixers. At some point, you have to start wondering whether the Sixers' potential just isn't very high this season. If Burston can come back in and improve things a bunch (by freeing Ballinger up more, controlling the boards, etc.) then I'll eat my words, but the Sixers don't ever seem to know how to run a productive offence with a genuine centre, so I don't really see why they're going to start now. We've got the individual skills to be successful (as does every team in the comp), but as a coherent unit, the current squad is painful to watch. IMO, YMMV, etc.

^^^ agreed.

I'm just trying not to put a lot of this on Scotty, as I really want to see him succeed.

That said, with someone like Bevo at the helm of this team, I'd have to honestly say I think they'd look much better.

Skud, how much do you think Corletto, Greer, Crosswell, Johnson, Lang, etc are costing them? Doubt it's much. Mackinnon went cheap for a last go around too.

Not saying that the Sixers' ceiling is a guaranteed championship, just that they're not at their best.

hereschenes, during the Gold Coast game I was thinking like that, that this will just be an average season and we might not be that good. We ended up giving it to Ballinger who got us out jail in that game. Hopefully this team will not be an average team and we can start focussing on our strengths the whole game, that way we are in with a chance to beat any team. On the other hand, if we don't work out how to be effective teams will shut down Ballinger and then we will resort to one on one offence which will result in ugly games/results.

Anon Burston has had two unlucky injuries this season. The first was with Anstey falling on his knee. I'm sure Anstey falling on anyones knee would cause damage. The most recent injury was a fractured hand(?) which is not related to the knee. Prior to that he played the previous two seasons Injury free!

Hand injury was at training, knocked by Brad Hill unfortunately.

Melbourne will be Contenders if the following happens:

70% of Tiger Possesions go to Julius to either fluff or make.

Corletto, Croswell and Worthington are willing to give up their Inside game to Julius and wait for perimeter shots only (Wortho should be used to that).

AKA, they do what Adelaide did and try the "Shaq" philosophy and base everything on Julius.

You gotta feel for burston. i met him a few times when he was a cat. genuine good allround bloke.

I can't believe that the Tigers are favourites...plain crazy in my book!

Wollongong and Perth are the two standouts for me IMO unless some roster changers are made with the other six teams can't see them challenging these two awesome teams

Maybe word got around that Julius was one of the best jump-shots in the league (and of course the hardest at training) and the bookies bought the poison and all of a sudden the Tigers are favourites?

Both Centrebet & TAB are jumping the gun a bit considering Hodge hasn't played a single game for Melbourne. Surely there is a risk factor that he will disrupt the team, if not for his on court antics atleast his off court antics. I wouldn't trust Hodge to bring a championship. Isaac, I don't think that Melbourne being at the bottom of the ladder right now is an indication that they are not likely to win a championship. They can turn that around at any time and perform when it counts. I just don't think that Hodge is the one that is going to turn it around for them.

EC, I'd say being on the bottom of the ladder is the best indication you can get that you aren't going to win the 'ship! It's the reason why they pulled the trigger on Hodge.

Centrebet and TAB's odds would be a reaction to money taken on the Tigers since they signed Hodge (most of it by Isaac)

It's not about them being a lock to win it all, just a good deal given the odds. They've done OK considering their injuries, have Anstey to return and have added someone who could make them or keep them in a holding pattern. Worth a punt.

Bookies follow the money - to move Melb that short, I imagine they must have had some serious bets coming through.

Agreed they are worth a punt - very open season this year, and I think 4 or 5 teams have a shot. Melb's experiance and Julius if he lasts the season could get them over the line.