Welcome back to all bowlers to 1 White. We hope this year will be very enjoyable for you all and we'll try our best to provide some entertainment and commentary along the way to add to the fun.
Let's look back to see if it helps us look forward. From last years 10 teams in 1 White only 4 survive, namely Kardinya, Osborne Pk, Wanneroo & Warwick, therefore it will always be inherently difficult to work through predictions and expectations when 6 new teams come through. We have Morley & Sorrento dropping down and Basso, Cockburn, Rossmoyne & South Perth coming up. Overall it looks like a very balanced spread across the 10 teams which should keep things very competitive throughout the season.
Below is a table of the best performing players from 1 White last year, number of wins after the club name & before percentage:

1 Buttel, Matthew North Beach 2 16.0 89%
2 Barrett, Mark Mosman Park 14.5 85%
3 McGinlay, Joe (skip) North Beach 1 15.0 83%
4 Gillingham, Brad North Beach 1 15.0 83%
5 Walker, Paul (skip) Mosman Park 14.0 82%
6 Beurteaux, Louie Mosman Park 9.0 82%
7 Fair, Paul Mosman Park 11.0 79%
8 Palmer, Neville Wanneroo 14.0 78%
9 Edson, Craig Mosman Park 13.0 76%
10 Wishart, Graeme (skip) Mosman Park 13.5 75%
11 Robertson, Mark Mosman Park 13.5 75%
Gryta, Alek Mosman Park 13.5 75%

Obviously there's a clear dominance of Mossie Park & North Beach but the stand out is definitely the transition of Matthew Buttel. He started off in the 2nd team for the 1st half and got elevated on absolute merit to Joe McGinlay's side. There is also merit in believing that McGinlay going unbeaten since Buttel joined is a solid argument to why McGinlay finished top of the skippers ladder. Eitherway, any player winning 16 of 18 games highlight what clear value there can be with an excellent front end player, providing options all day.
This again was proven through N.Palmer for Wanneroo who we chat move about in the R1 preview.
Who to look out for?? We can see similar from 1 Blue North where the promoted teams featured heavily in the top 10:
1 Roelofs, Bill (skip) South Perth 15.5 86%
2 Munnelly, Enda South Perth 14.5 85%
3 Negus, Richard South Perth 13.5 79%
4 Coumbe, Robert Mundaring 13 72%
5 Owen, William South Perth 12.5 69%
6 Bills, John Yokine 12 75%
6 Alden, Leigh Bassendean 12 75%
8 Dinnison, Alfred Bassendean 12 71%
8 O'Sullivan, Eugene (skip) Bassendean 12 71%
10 Revell, Rodney (skip) Bassendean 11.5 64%
Others worth a mention:
Petrich, Max South Perth 11 85%
Davidson, Wayne Bassendean 11 85%
Madigan, Peter Bassendean 11.5 68%

Roelofs is an obvious top lister to keep an eye on coming up and the Basso names speak for themselves. However, what I would like to highlight is 7 of the top 10 are NOT skippers. We do chat about teams performance in the context of skippers 'names' but what we really mean is the whole team of all 4 individuals and last years list for both 1 White & 1 Blue North show the depth in the front end in consistently delivering game after game to ensure their skippers get every chance in winning. Yes there will always be the debate about the value of front v back ends but without digging into the statistics more (yet) some of those front end players have played with 3-4 different skippers throughout the year which indicate they win wherever they go. I will look to keep an eye on a few dark horses throughout the year to see if we can undercover who outside of the skippers is delivering week after week. Overall there is some really good stories within both those top 10 tables so massive congrats to all.
The stand outs remaining in 1 Blue are Coumbe & Bills who played brilliantly across a number of rinks and would be tipped to play very well again this year.
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Let’s get right into this random game of predicting the unpredictable. Ranked in order of potential finishing position after 18 games.....here we go!!
1. Sorrento
Whether by luck or lack of execution in critical games Sorrento are back to 1 White but maintain the guts of that PL team from last year which is very encouraging. Yes if that last game of the season went different v South Perth or losing -1 at home to Cambidge or -3 against Millers or -1 to Kardy it would of been a completely different season. The reality is they didn't and that was hard to accept in April but I'm sure they are chomping at the bit to get stuck into this season to get back up and I can't see them not going very close.
They won 5 away from home against Cambridge, The View, Morley, Ossie & Warnbro which shows they can not only travel but complete at a high level. If they can tidy up a loose 4th rink they will do very well this year & have added some names to the listing which will help. Top pick and expect to see some big home wins as 1 White teams probably will not handle Sorrento surface as well as PL teams.
2. Wanneroo
The Roo's finished the season well last year & made the Finals with a 1st round elimination to Kardinya, who in turn lost out to Mossies. One would expect another strong season by a well balanced Wanneroo side that provided some consistent play over last season.
They scored well with Costello & Fewster winning the majority & running about 60% win rate. Turra chipped in late on with an impressive 4 from 5 and they'll look to build on that form again this year. Their home form is very good & they only lost 2 games and knocked together 5 from 9 away which helped keep them near the top end of the table for most of the season.
The Roo's have held together a solid 16 to go again this year and will certainly be eyeing up a PL spot early on. Can't see them outside the Top 3 for most of the season & competitive throughout.
3. Kardinya
Some peoples favourites to top the division and I wouldn't be surprised if they got there in the end, especially with some new recruits. They missed out on a trip to the big PL dance by losing to Mossies in the Finals but that was a better Mossies team than will start R1 this year so no disgrace in that. They probably lack that knockout skipper although Fewings did excellent when he came in running 9 from 11 and some strong games in Finals. Knap also had a solid season. However they need more support especially away from home. Yes they won 8 from 9 at home last year (nearly expected now with such strong home ground advantage) but the 4 they dropped away hurt. Still finishing with 92pts and close to winning Finals will give them a lot of confidence coming into R1. There's nothing in it between them & Wanneroo only Roo's shave it due to less blowouts against the better sides.
4. Bassendean
There is some temptation to bring this Basso side into the top 3 given the dominance and confidence they are playing with, especially at home but this is a far tougher setting than 1 Blue where they enjoyed some big wins throughout the season.
The bulk of the team remains & it actually might be 1 or 2 players better than last year which would make them very competitive. As the table above shows they have some big skippers and quality across the rinks showing why they only lost 3 games last year & put 107pts on the final ladder.
The surface will probably play less of a factor this year given the green comparison of the other teams so I expect scoring won't be as plentiful as last year. Overall very solid 16, good balance and playing on the confidence that they thoroughly deserve to be here after beaten Cockburn well in the Finals. Here to stay with potential upside.
5. Warwick
Warwick were quite close to Finals but just missed out late on. No doubt they'll have regrouped and will be making a proper push again this year. They were close to unbeatable at Home last year & I would expect that trend to continue this year as they play the home track very well. The Away form didn't help with the abandoned came v Ossie Pk but even without that they only collected 3 wins on the road so that will need improvement for them to climb the table this year. Some of those loses were reasonably heavy so that's why I feel some improvement is required, along with higher scoring. They finished the season on exactly the same For v Against scores or 100%, which normally might not have you sitting 5th and close to Finals in some years.
Hinge had a superb season and took some big scalps, winning 65% of games. Ledingham & Borkowski weren't far behind and there is no major changes expected, so we would expect another solid season from Warwick and will be a danger for any side, especially at Home.
6. Osborne Park
Osborne Park are currently looking like same-same as last year but I have slight concerns that they could finish lower than mid table given the pressures form the top side and a real clear lack of top few skippers to drive them over in the tight games.
For various reasons, last year they barely had a skipper within the top 30 at the end of the year, so they really need some to impose themselves more on the quality of the back end. This was also evident in their 'For' scoring of only 1191 which was roughly 180 shots less than the average. They do ok on the defence so high scoring isn't so critical when you are not leaking big scores either but it does highlight the need for them to push for more scoring opportunities within their games.
7. South Perth
They hard a tough first 5 games, so hard to call how the Millers will go this season but probably confident enough is saying not top 4 but open to correction. They played excellently away from home last year and barely lost a game by more than a few last ends bowls so a lot to like about their fighting spirit. If you beat them on the day you well deserve the hard fought win, especially if it's at Mends St.
They don't mind scoring and broke the 1500+ shots last year in 1 Blue N, better than any other team in that Division & defend well so they should keep themselves in the game for long periods.
If they can tighten up the back end a little they can go very well but with the top team losing a few players this year they'll pull a little on this side. Big season for Roelofs as he looks to build on skipper of the year and consistently polling high every year by only losing a handful of games for over 3 years now.
They have a few established options on the back end so they'll work through that but I think the real value for them this year will be the well balanced front end that won't give a lot away.
8. Cockburn
First game out of the blocks is v South Perth so pretty keen to see how that works out. They won 1 Blue South in an absolute canter last year & fully deserve their spot here. Home record is eye watering good with huge average 'for' scoring of nearly 100 shots per game. They only lost 3 games all season & they were away from home so I'm slightly unsure why I have them 8th when Basso are 4th but there's just something about the teams balance with a significant reliance on Marevich but yet he keeps winning so probably no concerns there really.
With the tougher matchups this year it's hard to see Joe helping the Agg as much as last year & that puts more emphasis on Musulin and TePania. Overall Cockburn score for fun, have a significant home advantage & that just cannot be ruled out & is probably up there with the Kardinya home advantage so any team getting a win down in the new shed will be pretty happy.
9. Rossmoyne
Rossmoyne came through on the 2nd chance saloon through Finals, taking Leeming first up and then sending Stirling packing in another very close game. A few changes this year and J.East is a bigger one than most. Overall a solid team but with East missing and a significant over reliance on Gollan (winning 13.5 of 18), but it's slightly difficult to see Rossmoyne pushing for anything past bottom half, happy if I'm wrong. They beat & pipped Safety Bay on the last round to get to Finals & did well to get here so they deserve their spot.
If they can fill a few key positions with new talent or maybe some of the guys that showed late promise from their 1 Blue North side (like R.Vind) they can certainly compete to stay up, as that Home form will count for a few wins this year. If Lang & Petchell can get good support to Gollan they have a quality outfit that could take most teams.
10. Morley
Morley went through the pain last year & now present as a stronger club side with some good experience invested into the next phase of top side players. I’m still unconvinced how such weekly whipping last year will ‘benefit’ them now in an equally competitive division & they have changed some of those selections around again. Hopefully they can strip out the negatives & build on those positives but they’ll need a solid 5-6 games at the start to establish that confidence again so we’ll reassess by early December.