Butler making the top 5 after missing half the season with injury shows how good she should be for us next year.
We really had a lot of bad luck in the forwards that could have derailed our season if others hadn't stepped up to do a great job.
Butler missing half the season.
Karpani missing half the season.
Hannah Southwell missing a few games and playing injured all season.
Tinao missing most of the season.
Jules Kirkpatrick not even making it to the starting blocks - injured before the season started.
Even Clydsdale was injured in SOO before the season started and wasn't at her best in the early rounds.
On the plus side;
Albert-Jones started the season pretty poorly but got better and better all season, till she was one of our best in the big games.
Davison stepped up from being a rookie to being a quality middle over the season.
Carter also made big strides.
Romaniuk was OK last year but stepped up several levels this year.
Caitlan started the year a bit slow, but was back to her best by the finals.
Hannah Southwell was both a negative and a positive, She wasn't at her best, but we didn't have her last year, and she was still our best defender, even half fit.
Higgins was able to spend a lot of time in the forwards with Maynard at hooker.
In short, we had enough bad luck in our forwards to derail our season, but several stepped up to keep us on track.
If we can start next year with a fully fit;
8 Butler
9 Higgins
10 Davison
11 Clydsdale
12 Johnston
13 Southwell
14 Maynard
15 Romaniuk
16 Albert-Jones
17 whoever looks best between Predebon, Karpani, Tinao, Carter or someone new.
We will be much stronger in the forwards next year.