The NRL season is just a month away, and while plenty of focus tends to be on the teams at the top of the ladder, with success and glory awaiting, there is also the question of which teams will end up fighting for the wooden spoon.
It’s a “prize” no team wants to be receiving at the end of the year, but one a team will ultimately end up with.
It’s also a spot on the ladder which is going to see different teams in the battle as the 2022 season comes to life.
The Canterbury Bulldogs were the team at the bottom of the ladder when it was all said and done at the end of 2021, but their mass recruitment drive will leave heads rolling if they end up in the same spot at the same time this year.
The Brisbane Broncos were last before that, but improved in 2021 and welcome grand final duo Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell for the 2022 season which has pundits wondering whether they will fight for the top eight, not whether they could finish at the bottom once again.
2019 saw the Gold Coast Titans pick up the spoon, and after making the finals in 2021, they won’t be anywhere near it this time around.
Here are the five stragglers who are a chance of finishing at the bottom of the 2022 NRL table, and who would need something of a miracle to make the finals.
2. Wests Tigers
The Tigers come into this season with some fresh faces, but more questions than answers even over their quality.
Jackson Hastings and Oliver Gildart arrive from the English Super League and will need to find their way to NRL standard in a hurry, while utility Tyrone Peachey has hardly had a stable season since the beginning of his career and may not find it at the Tigers.
The recruits, at any rate, don't scream "transformational" like they do at the Broncos and Bulldogs for example. Instead, they scream that mediocrity may be able to find some improvement if everything goes perfectly.
But the club's persistence in sticking with Luke Brooks is somewhat baffling given he is now the most capped NRL player without a finals appearance, while Adam Doueihi's injury at the start of the season could leave them staring down the barrel early doors.
Michael Maguire's future is anything but secure which will only heap extra pressure on the club, particularly now with Tim Sheens watching over his shoulder.
There are bright spots - Daine Laurie and Jake Simpkin for example, as well as the brutal young forward Stefano Utoikamanu - but whether that is enough to avoid the spoon seems debatable.
