In the words of the great Hannah Montana 'everybody makes mistakes'.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
And here at ACM, we are no different.
Earlier this year before a ball was kicked in the Peter McDonald Premiership, we collectively put together a season preview with how we thought each side would fare and boy did we make a few errors.
![Re-visiting our pre-season Peter McDonald Premiership predictions. Re-visiting our pre-season Peter McDonald Premiership predictions.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/118079462/55651307-0485-49a5-a2aa-0e4d7e603492.png/r0_0_1720_971_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A predicted ladder at the bottom of the story in question had some people talking and with two rounds left before finals, what better time to be held accountable?
Let's have a look at what we got right and more importantly, wrong.
What we got wrong
Apologies Wellington Cowboys fans, your side proved us wrong almost from the opening round of the season.
We had Wellington finishing at the bottom of the ladder back in April but now the Cowboys are a genuine chance to host a semi-final and make it to at least the second week of the finals.
The signing of Blake Ferguson has helped boost Wellington's stocks as has Seaun Stanley Jr.
At the time we did predict Wellington to improve but not make the finals.
While we are talking about Group 11 clubs, I probably should mention both Forbes and Macquarie.
The defending premiers will miss the finals in what has been a tough season for Mitch Andrews and Nick Greenhalgh since taking over as co-coaches.
Just two wins from their 12 matches so far this season have them at the bottom of the Group 11 pool.
Injuries and suspensions have been the story of Forbes' season as has been largely the case for Macquarie as well.
![Wellington's Blake Ferguson has been the competition's biggest signing. Picture by Nick Guthrie Wellington's Blake Ferguson has been the competition's biggest signing. Picture by Nick Guthrie](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/118079462/98397407-87ac-4b8a-91fa-ae9fb75e6c71.jpeg/r848_886_3592_2373_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Raiders have one of the best forward packs in the competition but this season they haven't got much to show for it with their finals hopes relying on results going their way.
We thought the Raiders could challenge for the title this year with the additions of Jack Kavanagh and Billy Gilbert but it wasn't to be.
Zac Hunt was our player to watch this season at Panthers but unfortunately, the former CSU Mungoe hasn't featured in the top grade in recent rounds.
There have been have been a few things we got right with Nyngan but their position on the ladder isn't one of them.
READ ALSO:
New coach James Tuitahi has only played one match this season but his results leading the Tigers have been exceptional.
What we got right
While there were a lot of things we got wrong, we did also predict a few outcomes which have happened.
Dubbo CYMS and Mudgee being the top two sides in the competition were probably paying $1.01 at the start of the season but sometimes you need a sure thing to get your confidence going.
Mudgee look primed to make a deep finals run and you could argue the Fishies look better than they did last year with a new-look spine.
Zac Merritt's St Pat's side are somewhat of a weird side.
They've got a well-documented gun spine but they've also had a few matches they would like to forget this season.
![It's been a tough season for Orange CYMS with the side struggling to field a consistent side. Picture by Amy McIntyre It's been a tough season for Orange CYMS with the side struggling to field a consistent side. Picture by Amy McIntyre](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/118079462/758cd3f8-050d-4326-b91d-e0e5579126c0.JPG/r0_422_8256_5082_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Nyngan have been playing great football this year and a big reason why is the performance of Josh Merritt.
The star halfback has combined with Mason Williams to boost the Tigers' chances of playing finals in 2023 and Merritt has received praise from his teammates for his leadership as well.
Thankfully we predicted Parkes, Panthers and Hawks all featuring in the finals but we had them finishing outside the top two in their respective pools.
With respect to Orange CYMS and Lithgow, we did feel both of those sides would struggle this season but the Workies Wolves had been on the rise this season, knocking off Macquarie in 2023.
For Orange CYMS, they were forced to pull out of the reserve grade competition just a few weeks ago due to player shortages.
However, should the rumours be true, expect things to improve soon with a few key signings for next season.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.