Ratings after Round 3

We’ve now had a full round and all sides have played a game, so here are the Tribunal rankings after Round 2:

1 Norwood- You can’t go past a win at Elizabeth to claim top spot, even allowing for it to be early in the season against a Central outfit not yet firing.

2 Central - Now it gets really hard. Last year’s top teams have had ordinary starts, but they have a bit in the bank. We’ll keep the Doggies here
only because the main challengers aren't showing much either.

3 Eagles- Danger signs, with a capital C for Complacency and a capital U for Underdone. Their list is too good to stay that way.

4 Port – The bubble is at breaking point. Have they peaked way too soon, or is a narrow loss at Unley still respectable? They’ll bounce back.

5 South – A different side with McKernan and Thewliss to add strength and any win at Prospect is a good win.

6 West – Great one day, ordinary the next. Jekyll and Hyde have nothing on the Bloods, but one win from two away from home is a fair start.

7 Sturt – Under-rated and proved it with a win over Port. They’ll find it harder away from home, but a good win is a good win.

8 Glenelg – Gutsy win in a scrappy game at home lifts them off the bottom. Bay fans will think 8th is too low and they might prove them right.

9 North – Dropping their first game at home to the Panthers wasn’t on their menu and they’ll need to redeem that quickly.

Can't really argue with that - fair assessment at this early stage of the season.

No danger signs for the team called the Eagles yet.

Three rounds and we’re starting to get an idea or two of how sides are travelling. (Last week's position in brackets)

1 (1) Norwood: No surprise here, beating last year’s runner-up and smashing the Premiers puts them a mile in front right now.

2 (7) Sturt: While they have a strong AFL contingent available, they’re doing the job well, but tougher tests are ahead.

3 (8 Glenelg: Travelling nicely and were impressive against a poor North outfit. Two out of two can’t be faulted.

4 (4) Port: Perhaps we need to reassess their Eagles win, but the Sturt result at Unley looks reasonable. A Foxtel Cup win gave some fringe players confidence.

5 (6) West Sitting OK after 3 rounds and their loss to Glenelg away doesn’t look as bad now as it did last week.

6 (2) Central: We used to take no notice of their early form, knowing they’d be up there when it counted. They still will be. Won’t they? Hmmmm.

7 (5) South: They’re falling a bit short, but they’re missing Wundke to supplement Ainger and McKernan. When and if that happens, they’ll start to move up.

8 (3) Eagles: Oh dear, so much talent, so the question is how long it will take them to realize it’s 2012, not 2011.

9 (9) North: Ordinary in Round 2, woeful in Round 3. It’s hard to see where the required improvement will come from, but there’s a long way to go yet.

The Tribunal has been getting it easy. We're looking for some critical analysis of where we're wrong.

Unless, of course, we're right

Once again, probably a fair assessment of the teams form over the first three rounds. I'd probably have West sitting second on account of what I'd consider to be wins in tougher circumstances than either Sturt or Glenelg's victories. Should get a clearer picture after this weeks rounds as to whether these early indicators can be considered genuine signs for the season ahead.

Cambridge Clarrie wrote:I'd probably have West sitting second on account of what I'd consider to be wins in tougher circumstances than either Sturt or Glenelg's victories.

Ahem ... Glenelg beat West Clarrie

85 Was A good Year wrote:

Cambridge Clarrie wrote:I'd probably have West sitting second on account of what I'd consider to be wins in tougher circumstances than either Sturt or Glenelg's victories.

Ahem ... Glenelg beat West Clarrie

Yep, that's right.

But, I'd say that West winning against one of last years grand finalists and beating the fancied South at Noarlunga was more impressive than Glenelg beating West at home and North at Prospect. Therefore after round 3, I'd comfotably have West ahead of Glenelg.

After round 4's results, I'd have to reverse that decision. (But then, the Eagles do seem to be this years easy beats... )