Sportsbet has:
Perth Wildcats 3.00
New Zealand Breakers 4.00
Melbourne Tigers 6.00
Wollongong Hawks 8.00
Adelaide 36ers 10.00
Cairns Taipans 13.00
Sydney Kings 15.00
Townsville Crocodiles 21.00

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Personally, I think the Centrebet ones are a little closer to the money.

My top 8

Perth
Adelaide
NZ
Melbourne

Cairns
Sydney
Wollongong
Townsville

Id have sydney as the spoon favourites...they are looking awful. I think you will see adelaide massively underachieve again too, but it looks like thats what the bookies are thinking too . And perth as favourites? Please...

Townsville are so bad at the 5 position its not funny but id rate them ahead of sydney at least...

Fwiw im going to go against the grain and say you will see something more like:

NZ
Adelaide
Perth
Wollongong
Cairns
Melbourne
Townsville
Sydney

Cairns are looking like good value to me. If their second import is a contributor they have a very nice team.

Yeah I have no faith in Anstey as a coach either. Melbourne will under achieve.

Perth don't seem to have a particularly strong bench, but they do have top-tier players in Martin, Redhage, Knight and probably Ennis. Plus likely to have existing chemistry even if the coach has changed.

NZ are a lot deeper bringing potentially Bruton, Webster, Lazare off the bench, and Te Rangi looked good against the Boomers. Coaching change won't impact them, I don't think.

Adelaide need to prove themselves before anyone will believe in them, but certainly seem decent on paper and the bench is one of the best. Roster has upgraded and I think Joey would struggle to do worse than Marty. Top four or it's a fail, you'd think.

Crocs and Kings I can't see being contenders unless an import is outstanding. I'm sure Ogilvy will get his numbers.

Melbourne have some decent pieces in Worthington and Goulding, but not keen to predict anything until we see the imports play.

Cairns are hard to call. Should be around the mark at least.

I suspect and hope Clarke will be MVP-calibre for the Hawks, and they have most of a core returning under the same exceptional coach. But I reckon unless they get a rebounding import to replace Sav, that will compromise their strength a lot.

All that said, Perth and NZ are already pretty short. I think Melbourne would be a wasted bet, but then again Wortho and Goulding could will them through. Adelaide are probably the longer odds team I think have a real shot.

Considering our bench last year was Bartlett, Carter/Robbins, Tovey, Wagstaff and Trueman, its extra funny to be calling the bench weak when its going to be Burdon, U'u/Daly, Hire, Wagstaff and Jervis.

All I'm saying is that on paper the depth doesn't change that much. There are some unknowns but considering we got almost zero offensive input from Robbins and Tovey, and have upgraded with some more scorers this year, it all comes down how well the guys play together which is exactly what worked for them 90% of the time last year.

Situation, I think it's that series of unknowns that make it fair to wonder about the strength of the bench. If Daly gets a gig, he's going to be there with more NBL experience than Burdon and Jervis. Regardless, it's not like (m)any are suggesting Perth won't be up there.

Who are people projecting as Perth's starters? Martin, Ennis, Hire, Redhage, Knight? Or Martin, import, Ennis, Redhage, Knight?

On bench strength, Adelaide have Teys, Cadee, Creek, Petrie, Anthony. Two of those played in the AU-NZ series, and another two would be in the young Boomers ranks. 3-4 of those guys have started or could start.

Depending on who they start, NZ could have Webster, Bruton, Te Rangi, Lazare, Trueman off the bench. Three of those guys are starting calibre. Another is somewhat proven and Te Rangi seems to be coming along.

is Martin able to play this season? he did his Achilles in April this year and considering it is a 9-12 month recovery....any Perth fans know anything different?

I can't wait for TeRangi to play some minutes and get his confidence up and see what he can really do.
His ball handling skills looked decent against the Boomers and he didn't make many rash decisions that cost the team.

I believe he is running, hasn't started full on training yet, but the last update said there was no reason to believe he would miss any part of the season.

I hope this topic gets printed out and pinned to the Mens changeroom wall in the Adelaide /scouts/ Maher /Arena
.....about 7ft up that wall LOL

...with a much less talented roster?

nothing wrong with Trevor Gleeson as a Coach, he did well with Townsville and was then given a hospital pass with the Melbourne Tigers.

"then given a hospital pass with the Melbourne Tigers."

hahahaha brilliant description.

"Just sayin, Bevo coached the Wildcats to a title and three GF's all up in his four years as coach where as Gleeson has never made it to a GF."

With the talent and cash at his disposal at Townsville, he did very very well.
Look at the rosters of the teams that finished ahead of him.

I wrote off most of his teams, yet they were around the mark at the seasons end.
It was really only bench depth that really hurt him.

NZ
Sydney
Perth
Wollongong
Cairns
Adelaide
Melbourne
Townsville