CAW District season preview | Kiewa remain team to beat

Last season: 8th

Captain: Vince Moran

Gains: Paul Munro, Lewis Statham, Luke Bartley, James McCabe

Losses: Nil

Leading run-scorer last season: Brett Allan (379)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Ryan Mitchell (19)

Prospects: It was a season to forget for the Rangers who slipped from top of the ladder in 2018-19 to eighth. Have welcomed back Paul Munro which will provide some much-needed stability at the top of the order.

Club comment (Daniel Hussey): Last year hurt a lot and we've got to get a bit of pride back. Making finals is the number one goal. It's been hard with COVID, but we've put in as much work as we can in pre-season to try and turn things around.

Prediction: 5 to 8

Last season: 10th

Captain: Chris Hartshorn and Rhys Ritchie

Gains: Ben Stewart, Rhys Ritchie, Tom Baker, Riley Bartlett, Connor Wiffen, Ken Dube, Connor Flavell

Losses: Murray Price, Matthew King

Leading run-scorer last season: Fin Lappin (299)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Matthew King (15)

Prospects: Last year's wooden spooners have a point to prove and will look to hit the ground running having been training three nights a week since COVID restrictions permitted. A host of handy additions will give the Miners every chance of returning to finals.

Club comment (Chris Hartshorn): Ben (coach Ben Stewart) has been fantastic. He's brought a lot of structure to training and knows how to talk to people. Hearing someone else's voice has been a breath of fresh air for the club.

Prediction: 5 to 8

Last season: 9th

Captain: Luke Rafferty

Gains: Jack Robinson, Lucas Hutchinson, Tom Webb, Jarrod Scammell

Losses: Kieren Salome

Leading run-scorer last season: Luke Rafferty (498)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Kieren Salome (25)

Prospects: The Saints' top wicket-taker Kieren Salome will be missing for large parts of the season with work commitments, but some quality additions should help the club continue to improve.

Club comment (Trent Sirl): We won three out of the last five games last year, so if we can pick up where we left off, I'm sure the team we've got is quite capable of playing finals.

Prediction: 5 to 8

Last season: 3rd

Captain: Andrew Creamer and Andrew Dishot

Gains: Bailey Williamson, Steve Williamson

Losses: Nil

Leading run-scorer last season: Andrew Creamer (680)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Andrew Creamer (28)

Prospects: The experienced Steve Williamson has taken the reins as coach of the Demons in a bid to take the perennial finalists to ultimate success. Have maintained the core group and should be around at the business end again.

Club comment (Steve Williamson): They've been ousted in the finals the last couple of years are looking to go to the next step. They've looked outside the club in terms of coaching to hopefully find what they're missing.

Prediction: 1 to 4

ALSO IN SPORT:

Last season: 6th

Captain: Jye Hodgkin

Gains: Carl Rogalski, Jake van Holten, Jackson Ellis, Tim Hales

Losses: Andrew Mansale, Connor Flavell

Leading run-scorer last season: Jye Hodgkin (531)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Haydon Wilson (26)

Prospects: The departure of Vanuatu international Andrew Mansale due to travel restrictions from COVID-19 is a huge blow. Any side that loses 400-plus runs and 20-plus wickets will find it hard to cover, but the return of some familiar faces helps.

Club comment (Tom Hodgkin): COVID has killed us because we had a good thing going with Vanuatu last year with Andrew Mansale coming out here. It won't be a possibility this year, so we'll work with what we've got and see how we go.

Prediction: 5 to 8

Last season: 1st

Captain: Josh Bartel

Gains: Jacob Barber, Ryan Bartel, Kel Bailey, Duane Schliebs

Losses: Nil

Leading run-scorer last season: Ben Curphey (422)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Josh Bartel (26)

Prospects: Won the flag from sixth last season. Expect Kiewa to be among the favourites again, particularly if they can get a full season out of Josh Warren at the top of the order.

Club comment: Howlong beat us twice last year convincingly, so it's disappointing we won't get to play them this year. People at the top like our president Graham Edwards, Sue Kelly and Shelley Lancaster are doing bucket loads of work to get us prepared for the COVID rules enforced.

Prediction: 1 to 4

Last season: 5th

Captain: Daniel Saville

Gains: Adam Whelan, Shannon Wilson

Losses: Davison Mbindi, Shane Manny

Leading run-scorer last season: Daniel Saville (640)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Ashan Ranaweera (25)

Prospects: The departure of club coach Davison Mbindi will be tough to cover, but they've been consistent performers year in, year out and have enough quality across the side to remain a finals threat.

Club comment (Daniel Saville): We don't really know how the season will pan out, but we're trying to keep things as normal as possible. The aim for this year is to keep the team and club together and try to bring a few old faces back.

Prediction: 1 to 4

Last season: 2nd

Captain: Bailey Glass

Gains: Hudson Garoni

Losses: Brenton Low

Leading run-scorer last season: Cameron Evans (534)

Leading wicket-taker last season: Mick Walker (24)

Prospects: Adding Hudson Garoni, younger brother of Cooper, to the squad full-time is a boost to the largely unchanged Roos. Young skipper Bailey Glass will lead the side for a second season and will be desperate to reverse last year's grand final result.

Club comment (Bailey Glass): I feel like Kiewa got revenge last year for what we did the year before. With only eight teams and still a top six, you've only got to win a few games and you sneak in and anything can happen once you get to finals.

Prediction: 1 to 4