Cronulla premiership coach Shane Flanagan expects the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers to be the NRL’s most dominant sides for the second consecutive year.
Speaking to Matty White on 1170 SEN Mornings, Flanagan predicted his top eight for the 2021 season, and has split his finals contenders into three categories: the teams to beat, challengers and those battling for a finals place.
Flanagan is very confident that his top five will all feature at the business end of the season and he has picked three surprises to make a finals appearance.
“I’m really comfortable with the top five, the top five is basically the same as last year,” Flanagan said.
"The Storm and the Panthers will definitely be up there, the Storm will definitely be up there, they will finish top four and the Panthers will be around their mark.
“The Roosters and Canberra will also be there, they round out my top four and the Bunnies round out my top five, I think you can say they’ll be pretty close to those four teams.”
For his surprises, Flanagan expects Manly to rise, the Broncos to make a huge leap from last place and the Sharks to remain in the bottom half of the eight.
“I have a sneaking suspicion Manly are going to do something this year,” he added.
“Des (Hasler) has been really quiet and I know Tommy (Trbojevic) is coming back … they’re going to be hard to beat.
“And I think the Sharks and the Broncos will be fighting out for the seventh and eighth spots.”
Shane Flanagan’s 2021 top eight:
- Melbourne Storm
- Penrith Panthers
- Sydney Roosters
- Canberra Raiders
- South Sydney Rabbitohs
- Manly Sea Eagles
- Cronulla Sharks
- Brisbane Broncos
Listen to Flanagan's full chat with Matty White below: