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This week, sports writers JORDAN WARREN and JOSH BARTLETT discuss the opening six rounds of Football South Coast's Illawarra Premier League including who has surprised the league the most so far and which sides have not reached their full potential as yet.
WARREN: As predicted, it has been a wild ride to start the Illawarra Premier League once again.
After six rounds, Albion Park lead the table (despite playing only five games with a perfect record). Cringila, Coniston, Wollongong United and Bulli round out the top five, however there are only three points separating fifth and ninth.
The biggest shock results of the season so far came last round, with Helensburgh notching up their first IPL victory of the season against Coniston and Port Kembla thumping defending grand final champions Olympic.
Cringila have kicked on from their suburb 2022 season as have Coniston, whilst it looks to be a two-horse race for relegation with South Coast and Bellambi bottom of the ladder - with both yet to register a victory.
But it's only fair to start spinning a yarn about APWE because they deserve it. After claiming a crucial 2-1 victory against the Lions on Good Friday, George Antoniou's team showcased why they should be in title contention talks.
And whilst they haven't played the likes of Coniston, Wollongong United, Olympic or Bulli (they play the latter this weekend), should teams be standing up and taking not of the White Eagles, who are looking to claim their first IPL title since 2016?
BARTLETT: I really like what the White Eagles have done so far this season. Park have always had a reputation for their attacking flair, and that hasn't changed in 2023 - they're averaging three goals per game - but it's their defensive resilience that has impressed me. They've shipped just four goals in five matches, which is equal best for goals conceded, alongside reigning premiers United.
Jordan, you're right that Antoniou's men haven't knocked over some of the IPL's "big dogs" yet, but they did beat the Lions on Friday, who are one of the league's biggest improvers over the past 18-24 months. Park's 3-0 win against Port Kembla in round four also looks better now, considering the Zebras outclassed a disappointing Olympic outfit on Sunday.
Can the White Eagles push on to premiership glory? It's still far too early to say - we're only a quarter of the way through this season - but they can only beat what's in front of them, and they've done that to lay a great foundation so far.
Besides Park, has there been anyone else who has really grabbed your attention in the opening six weeks?
As mentioned previously, Andrew Paine's men claimed an inaugural victory at the weekend, but prior to that, five successive draws.
The nature of the draws in itself have been fascinating. They kicked off the campaign with a 2-2 draw against Wollongong United - which was a brilliant result at first glance but the side led 2-0 early in the contest.
They then followed that up with another 2-2 draw against the current stragglers Bellambi. Then they pushed defending champions Olympic all the way in another 2-2 draw and were unlucky not to claim all three points.
That was followed up by another two one-pointers in draws against South Coast United (2-2) and Corrimal (4-4), the latter one of the games of the season.
After all of this, they knocked off high-flyers Coniston at the weekend (3-2). Perhaps the one thing that has gone under the radar through all of the Thistle's inconsistency is that they are only one of two unbeaten sides left in the competition (with APWE).
Despite being promoted from District League last season, Paine's men are a side that boasts incredible talent with players such as IPL journeyman Vaughan Patterson, former Bulli attacker Luke Van Zyl and former Sutherland NPL product Blake Curry. They have the potential to be challenging for the finals spots, if they can nail down consistency.
We should also mention Olympic. Matt Bailey's troops have too much quality to miss out on finals you would feel. But after two wins, two draws and a loss, the team sit eighth (albeit with a game in hand and still early days). But after a stuttering start, what do you feel the answer is right now for Olympic?
BARTLETT: It's been quite well documented that 'Bails' gave his players an extended break before pre-season, and I think we're seeing the downside of that. It's taken them a little while to hit their straps in 2023, but I would still back the coaches to find the right tonic as their campaign progresses, especially as guys like Chris Price have been in and out of the side so far.
It's been a similar story for Olympic's biggest rivals. United were very slow out of the blocks, but have started to find their groove in recent weeks. While they haven't beaten any expected contenders, Billy Tsovolos's men have notched up three wins in a row, scoring seven goals in that period and just conceding one. Despite that, I still think they're searching for answers in their front third, following the departures of Mason Versi and Klime Setukoski.
In terms of some of the other IPL sides, Coniston and Cringila have looked quite strong so far, only stumbling on a couple of occasions combined in the opening six rounds. Bulli have again probably shown enough to be a top five contender, while Port Kembla shapes as a potential dark horse following their 3-0 win over Olympic.
WARREN: Both have struggled but I feel SCU will improve the most. Traditional slow starters, in 2019 Greg Valic's side went winless in the first 11 games before rounding out the season just outside the finals in an 11 game unbeaten run.
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