For a little bit of fun, I am going to share with everyone who I think will be both contenders and pretenders for another year of Super Rugby action.

We have five Australian teams; one, who put simply, were the Cinderella story of 2011, two that had terrible seasons last year and will be hoping for a rugby renaissance in 2012, one that does win on a regular bases but still lacks faith from their fans and another who just seem to fly under the radar each year unnoticed.

The Reds still have a very strong squad at present and will pose a great threat this year if QC and Will Genia can get the troops moving on the back strong forward pack.

Other guys out wide like Digby Ioane and Rod Davies are also very dangerous when they get a little space. While up front you have Wallaby captain James Horwill, Radike Samo and Rob Simmons who put in outstanding performances week in-week out.

I just don’t see Queensland returning to the summit of the Super Rugby world with too many other teams knowing what to expect from them this year.

I think they’ll definitely be up there in the top two of the Australian conference again this year though, so I’ll say a second place finish for them.

At the other we have teams in the Brumbies under new coach Jake White and Rebels with added Wallaby star power and a massive point to prove in 2012.

White will have a big ask on his hands to turn around the Brumbies fortunes this year with a relatively new squad and few real strike players, though there will be experience in the forwards with Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander giving them something to work with.

At the end of the day though, there lack of any real strike players out wide, in-experienced squad and any real depth gives me the impression they’ll be at the back-end at fifth place In the Australian group. Their weaknesses are simply too easy to exploit.

The Rebels have recruited very well to add to their back-line stocks with Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor looking to turn the club into a more competitive outfit.

While I do believe these big name players will bring some more stability and versatility into their back-line, the forwards are still lacking up front and against more established packs and the bigger boys from New Zealand and the South Africa they will continue to struggle this year for consistency.

Fourth place is my pick, but I think there will be a drastic improvement on last year and they will be much more competitive.

This leaves us with the Western Force and NSW Waratahs, two teams with very different outlooks after the 2011 season, but similar goals on improving their fortunes in 2012.

The Force have been the one team that everyone seems to right off before the season even starts. However I’m feeling that if ever there was going to be a surprise package this year it’s going to be them.

They have a well-established forward pack led by the resilient Nathan Sharpe and a player as good at the breakdown as David Pocock is also crucial to their chances this year.

The one major concern however, is the obvious loss of a player of James O’Connor’s skill set whom on the back of a simple grinding strategy, could blow the game wide open at any moment with devastating pace.

I’m predicting a third place finish for the westerners in 2012, but would not be the least bit surprised if they were to defy the odds and finish higher up the ladder.

Lastly to my beloved Waratahs, who even though had a relatively good season in 2011, there was much uproar from fans about the fact that their style of play was put simply boring.

To be honest it didn’t bother me but at the end of the day as a player you as a player are in the entertainment business and people pay good money hard earned money to come to the footy once a week. They want to be entertained and I understand where they were coming from.

The Waratahs are seen by the Rugby fans of Australia as the unofficial chokers of the sport in this country, but I think this year things are going to change. With the recruitment of Adam Ashley-Cooper as our new back-line utility and Sarel Pretorius as the Scrum-Half in the squad there is certainly a lot to look forward this year.

Berrick Barnes is looking ever better at fly-half and taking control of the game and it’s just a matter of having those players around him to do the same and follow his lead. I predict the boys in blue will be leading from the front in the Australian conference, hopefully they go about it in a more thrilling manner though this year.

So at the end of the day I’m predicting 1 through 5; Waratahs, Reds, Force, Rebels and Brumbies. Not too much different from last year, but this is just my opinion, whats yours?