Mark J wrote:
Has anyone considered the possibility that maybe we are further advanced than we all thought?The fact that only 3 or 4 automatic delistings spring to mind indicate that maybe we are starting to aquire some depth.Or am i just being optimistic?

I think we certainly have turned the corner. The last few years have been easy to list between 5 and 7 players who were very likely delists at this time of the season. This year it's more like 3-5. We aren't carrying so much deadwood on our list anymore.
Even using Synbad's preferred KPI of percentage we are on the improve:
2002: 73.1%
2003: 66.7%
2004: 81.7%
2005: 75.5%
2006: 74.2%
Average % over last 5 years: 74.3
So our percentage at the end of 10 rounds of 82.0% is higher than any time in the last 5 years (inlcuding 2004 when we won 10 games) and 7.7% higher than our 5 year average.
We've been competitive in most games and reduced the number of games where we are getting spanked. We've got some young talent on our list who will improve with a few preseasons under their belt.
At the start of the season, i thought 6-8 wins was a realistic target and would mark our improvement and we are just about on track for that. If we can win 7 or 8 with Stevens missing most of the season I reckon that'll be pretty encouraging. Doing that and keeping our percentage in the 80% plus area will demonstrate real improvement to me.
Throw in a few young ruckmen on the list to address a specific weakness (although they will take a few years to come through) and not too many retirments over the next 5 years, and the stars seem to be aligning.
I think all the pointers show that we are becoming more competitive.