Reigning premiers Northern Suburbs are not in the top two mix after the loss of the competition's leading all-rounder Cal Gabriel and key premiership duo Brad Jenkinson and Matthew Holwell.

City face the conundrum of how do you replace the competition's best batsman in Josh Trappel and arguably the best fast bowler in Tim Burton?

While the obvious answer is you can't, they do have an abundance of talent to call upon after finishing minor premiers in the top four grades last season.

Even without their best batsman and bowler, City still look to have more runs and wickets in their line-up than most teams.

Wests have added Central Coast all-rounder Shaun Hill and Gold Coast opening batsman Zac Gayfer to their squad and former star all-rounder Michael Rees, who scored a century in Wests 2015-16 premiership, is also expected to play at various stage during the year.

Eastern Suburbs and Raymond Terrace have both bolstered their squads with returning stars and should push for the top four.

Easts welcome back Trent Park and Josh Hicks and will have Brendan Allen and paceman Doug Loth available for the full season.

Raymond Terrace will be boosted by the return of star trio Daniel Upward, Nick Savage and Shannon Bills

But which teams will they dislodge?

Thornton found consistency last year to finish second and will be keen to get another chance at the title after a disappointing semi-final loss to Norths.

It is going to be another tight and hard-fought season and the top four is unlikely to be decided until the final round with six teams strong chances for the top four.

Last year: Second (minor premiers)

Losses: Josh Trappel, Tim Burton

Gains: Matt Hanlon

The loss of star batsman Josh Trappel (60.5 average and three 100s) and and paceman Tim Burton (29 wickets) knocks City United off the mantle of unchallenged favourites.

They still have enough runs and wickets in their team to finish top two.

"We've got a couple of young fast bowlers in Jay Boyd and Jordan Murphy and the addition of Matt Hanlon who used to play first grade for us," City's skipper Matt Trappel said.

"Matt is coming out of retirement and will provide good depth and competition for that spot.

"In the batting we've got Ricky Dent, Michael Heinrich and young Dusty Callaghan, so we've got plenty of depth there to cover."

Opening bowler Tim Baker will be asked to take an even bigger role in Burton's absence, but City do also have probably the competition's two best spinners in Nick Bower and Todd Francis and Cameron Wynn and Sam Jordan as pace bowling options.

Prediction: 2nd

Last season: Fifth

Gains: Trent Park, Josh Hicks, Doug Loth

Losses: Michael Gavan

Finishing fifth last season was a tremendous effort by a young Eastern Suburbs side which started 2020-21 without star players Trent Park and Josh Hicks.

Park can take apart bowling line-ups with his batting and Hicks can open the batting and bowling.

Doug Loth adds to the club's pace bowling ranks after a cameo appearance last season.

Loth played second grade in Sydney, and his experience will benefit an already promising pace attack.

Jack Bennett takes the reins from Michael Gavan, who has taken the year off to help with a newborn child, and will have the benefit of plenty of competition for spots in the first XI.

"I'm really expecting big things for us, especially with Hicksy, Trent and Doug bringing that bit of experience," Bennett said.

Easts will be hoping for further development of teenage stars Tom Porter, Joe Hancock and Jett Lee who all had outstanding seasons in 2020-21.

Prediction: 4th

Last season: Sixth

Gains: Tallon Gear, Sam Dunstan

Losses: Steve Abel, Ben Herring

The loss of last season's captain Steve Abel leaves a huge hole that Kurri Weston will not be able to fill in 2021-22.

Although an integral part of the bowling, Abel will be more missed for his batting, which was reinforced with a dominant 61 not out in his first game for Cessnock side Wine Country.

Young batsman Tallon Gear comes to the Warriors from Tenambit Morpeth and spinner Sam Dunstan is from South Tamworth.

Dunstan joins a strong bowling line up of Cameron Bates, Nic Neild, Jack Sylvester and new skipper Sam Dalibozek. Neild looks to have picked up a yard of pace.

"We have the bowling to defend most reasonable scores. Taking wickets is not our issue," Dalibozek said.

Which leaves batting and, unfortunately, it was a case of hit and more misses for Kurri Weston last season and they will need to become more consistent to have any chance of challenging for finals again.

Prediction: 7th

Last season: Premiers

Gains: Josh Callinan and Mitch Field

Losses: Cal Gabriel, Brad Jenkins and Matthew Holwell

Northern Suburbs, in the words of 2021-22 skipper Lincoln Mills, played two perfect matches to win last season's premiership.

Finishing third they beat Thornton in the semi-final in a day and favourites City United in the grand final.

However, the chances of defending that title have lengthened with key players Cal Gabriel, Brad Jenkins and Matthew Holwell all missing from this season's line-up.

While Callinan and Field are excellent inclusions, Norths bowling stocks lack the penetration and variety that the departing trio provided.

Norths are probably the most likely team to drop out of last year's top four, but it won't be for long with another group of talented youngsters coming through.

Prediction: 6th

Last season: Seventh

Gains: Daniel Upward, Nick Savage and Shannon Bills

Losses: Nil

It's easy to argue for a spot in the top four for Raymond Terrace, especially with the addition of Daniel Upward, Nick Savage and Shannon Bills to the line-up.

Unfortunately, it is harder to fit six teams into four spots and the Lions are likely to just miss out.

Upward and Savage are huge additions to the all-rounder ranks, Bills will fit straight back into the top of the order and don't be surprised if Steve Smith leads the competition in runs.

But Terrace probably lack one or two front-line bowlers to contest finals at this stage.

It's awfully close and the Lions have great prospects in Lachie Page, Jayden Newson and Brayden and Jaxon Brooks but they may need another season to consistently rip through teams.

Prediction: 5th

Finish: 8th

Gains: Nil

Losses: Tallon Gear and Hunter Ball

Good leadership and an exciting batch of youngsters will see the Tenambit Morpeth Bulls take another step forward in 2021-22 but it may be not enough to lift them off the bottom of the table yet.

After a winless debut return season, the Bulls won two games in 2020-21 and don't be surprised if they claim a couple more this season.

The Bulls lost Tallon Gear and Hunter Ball from last year's team. Young batsman Gear has joined Kurri Weston and wicketkeeper Ball has work commitments.

Skipper Adam Sidoti said all-rounder Ryan Wind was being earmarked for Gear's spot at the top of the order.

Young paceman Alex Lidbury and Sid Searle will spearhead the attack along with the evergreen Shane Wind.

Prediction: 8th

Finish: Third

Gains: Nil

Losses: Chris Archer

Batsman Chris Archer will be the main loss from a Thornton side which finished second at the end of the regular season before being bundled out of the finals by premiers Norths.

The loss smarted after a consistent season, but it's a case of lessons learned and full steam ahead, according to skipper Matt Gabriel.

Wicketkeeper Peter Gabriel will miss the start of the season after undergoing ankle surgery with son Jono taking the gloves.

Jono's absence from the bowling line up will open the chance for teenage pace bowler Nick Bourke to stake his claim opening the bowling.

Thornton's recent form would suggest a fall from grace after a successful year, but last season's efforts were far more consistent and they should look forward to finals.

Prediction: 3rd

Finish: Fourth

Gains: Michael Rees, Shaun Hill, Zac Gayfer and Matt Shone

Losses: Nil

Western Suburbs are favourites among many pundits to give the title a red-hot shot after a strong preseason and excellent recruiting.

Premiership hero Michael Rees is back and is expected to be available for several games. At his best there are few better in Maitland, he scored 143 in Wests' 2015-16 grand final win.

Wests have more match-winners than most teams headed by skipper Mitchell Fisher, Rees and batsmen Aaron Mahony and Tom Irwin.

But they are also prone to batting collapses.

The addition full-time of Central Coast batting all-rounder Shaun Hill and opening batter Zac Gayfer from the Gold Coast should sure up the sometimes fickle batting.

Fisher expects a big season from paceman Harry King leading the attack.

Prediction: 1st