1. Lakeside Lightning (1st place, 13-2 record) - If the Lightning weren't heavy title favourites before, they certainly are after comfortably beating fellow top four sides Perry Lakes and Wanneroo over the weekend. It will take an amazing performance to beat Lakeside come finals time.

2. Wanneroo Wolves (3rd, 11-5) - A 22-point thrashing at home to Lakeside shows how much work they have to do, but they could still upset the Lightning on their day. Saturday's game against the Cougars will be a great test of where they're at.

3. Cockburn Cougars (2nd, 11-4) - Enter a tough doubleheader, against East Perth and Wanneroo, in a bit of a form slump, having lost two of their last four. With their recent struggles, it's hard to see them winning more than once this weekend.

4. Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers (5th, 9-6) - The Tigers are looking much more like last year's champions after victories in five of their last six. Beating the Giants in Kalgoorlie without Matt Knight showed they're contenders once again, and they should be too good for the Buccs on Saturday.

5. Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks (4th, 10-6) - In their last three games, the Hawks were upset by the Eagles, fell apart against Lakeside and were unconvincing, at best, in their victory over Rockingham. Need to bounce back with a better performance to beat Goldfields.

6. SKILLED Goldfields Giants (6th, 8-6) - This week's road-trip will determine whether the Giants are contenders or pretenders. They'll start favourites in two of their three games and must go home with at least a pair of victories, but if they're not at their best, the Eagles or Slammers could cause an upset.

7. Perth Redbacks (8th, 7-7) - To say the Redbacks were due to win at home before upsetting Cockburn last week would be the understatement of the season. That victory would have been a massive confidence boost, but they need to back it up by beating the Senators.

8. ATD Stirling Senators (7th, 8-7) - Last weekend's narrow victories against Rockingham and the Slammers weren't the most convincing, but it was enough to consolidate their top eight spot. Saturday's game against Perth will be crucial.

9. Australian Central East Perth Eagles (9th, 6-8) - What a difference Drew Williamson has made to a team that was desperately struggling just a fortnight ago. This week's doubleheader against Cockburn and Goldfields, but they could cause an upset in either game.

10. Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers (11th, 5-9) - Victory against the Magic ended their brutal losing streak and gave them a glimmer of hope. But unless they can win at least two of the three games on this week's road-trip, they won't make the finals.

11. Kalamunda Eastern Suns (10th, 6-9) - Ugly is the best way to describe their massive home loss to East Perth last week and will need to play much better for the rest of the season to sneak into the eight.

12. Mandurah Magic (12th, 5-9) - Last week's loss to the Buccs was a big blow to their finals hopes. Taylor Mullenax was only able to play 16 minutes in that game and if he's not available, they'll have little hope against Kalamunda.

13. Rockingham Flames (13th, 5-11) - Needed to beat Stirling or Perry Lakes to maintain realistic hopes of making the finals and it's fair to say the dream is over now. A season that started so positively has turned out to be another disappointment for the Flames.

14. Southwest Slammers (14th, 0-15) - They're getting closer to their first win and gave the Senators a very good crack. There's no way they'll beat Lakeside, but an upset against Goldfields on Sunday isn't impossible.

Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Marg Prior

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