The Pre-Season has been going on for a while now and the Wizard Cup is under a month away with Freo due to play the dirty rottens on the 18th of February at Subiaco Oval. As always what images we see are encouraging as sore bodies recuperate and healthy bodies gain muscle and tans as if they were easy to attain. Aaron Sandilands appears particularly menacing and his increased time in attack due to Simmonds' departure will hopefully prove the handful it poses to be for opposition defenses.

Pavlich (finally) appears to be assuming the mantle of Freo's marquee centre half forward, and I have no doubt this will prove bountiful for the team. Coach Chris Connolly obviously knows more about the team than any of us, but this appeared the logical choice a long time ago. I believe (at least for last season) Pavlich's Hird like role was forced by the Pash because he wanted to fit Simmonds into the team. Now that he is gone that pressure is no longer there and we have replaced the ruckman with a player type we desperately needed, an in form, aggressive, polished midfielder in Heath Black.

Black will prove the ying to Carr's yang as both players have similar hard nosed attitudes but one is in and under, the other is out and about. Throw in Matthew Carr, Paul Haselby, Peter Bell, Jarrad Schofield, Shaun McManus, Byron Schammer, an up and coming Ryley Dunn and Des Headland and we have a potent midfield, the equal of St. Kilda, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, and West Coast in my opinion.

Connolly has declared from this year forth, the Dockers talent level necessitates finals football for several years to come. He said on the FFC website that they had learned that you can't coast to the finals, you need to work hard. While this makes me wonder whether he was suggesting they weren't working hard in 2004, it nevertheless is an encouraging statement. Also encouraging is the tremendous off field efforts by Schwabby and the team who are continuing to improve our bottom line.

But at the end of the day Connolly needs to win at least 1 final to keep his job. This is my preseason prediction.

Discuss this article here!