It's a big old muddle, so we've stepped up to try and make sense of the chaotic and confusing CWAFL season 2019. 

COACH: Dale Hunter

LAST YEAR: Premiers

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Third

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Parkes (away), Bushrangers Outlaws (home), Bushrangers Rebels (home), Cowra (away), Giants (home).

PLAYER TO WATCH: Mark Mori

Mori will be one of the most important players for the Orange Tigers in season 2019. After both ruckman Tom Gibbons and full forward Tim Barry moved away from Orange in the off-season and the passing of Chris Rothnie in February, the Tigers will have an absence of big men.

With both Andrew Nelson and Caleb Campbell on shift-work, there will be weeks where newcomer Mori will be crucial. The Victorian can play in the ruck or at centre-half forward and will be important in either role.

OUR VIEW: The Tigers have lost some really quality players, and with Lucas Kelly missing the first few games of the season the side will be vulnerable early. However, the Tigers are so often written off at the start of the season due to personnel changes, and with four flags in five years they have a track record of proving everyone wrong.

COACH: Tim Hunter and Matt Archer

LAST YEAR: Fourth

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Premiers

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Dubbo (home), Giants (away), Tigers (away), Bye, Parkes (home) 

PLAYER TO WATCH: Ben Horn

Horn was away from Bathurst for large stretches of season 2018 and only played about half the season. However, when he was in he proved a crucial cog in the midfield, and if he can fit a full season under his belt he'll go a long way to making the Rebels an extraordinarily difficult team to beat. He's been named captain of the Rebels, too. 

OUR VIEW: It's always tough to split the two Bushrangers sides before you see them on the part and this year is no exception. The club ran their draft a month ago, with teams announced in the first few weeks of March. As always, the sides look equally as strong on paper, but the proof will be in the pudding as to how they gel as a side on the field, and how well their new recruits take to the game.

The Outlaws this season have the slight edge on paper, with Tim Hunter a real chance to lead the competition's goalkicking for 2019 depending on how often he gets on the park, and the return of Ben Horn to the midfield and as captain gives the bones of a dangerous side. We reckon one of the Bushies' sides will win the flag, and early days it's probably the Rebels.

COACH: Troy Robinson and Steve Grundy

LAST YEAR: Second

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Fourth

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Cowra (home), Tigers (away), Giants (away), Panthers (away), Dubbo (home)

PLAYER TO WATCH: Harry Bowden 

The wily ruckman went down with a knee injury in last year's grand final, and within minutes of him going off the field you could see how important he was. The Bushrangers struggled without him, and while they've added more depth in code-hoppers during season 2019, Bowden will be a big part of the Outlaws in 2019. 

OUR VIEW: We have the Outlaws in fourth, which will annoy everyone in the competition. The Bushrangers will - as always - be hoping for an all-Bushies affair in the grand final, while literally every other club will be hoping neither of them makes finals.

However their squad is simply too strong, even split down the middle, for both sides to miss finals, and they keep finding quality players to fill holes on their lists. President Alex Sparks said there are plenty of new code-hoppers joining the Bushies this year, which always makes it difficult. 

COACH: Mark Kennedy

LAST YEAR: Third

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Runners-up

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Bye, Bushrangers Rebels (home), Bushrangers Outlaws (away), Dubbo (away), Orange (away)

PLAYER TO WATCH: Aiden Macauley

With Tigers spearhead Tim Barry departing the Central West, Macauley has his chance to grasp the mantle of leading goalkicker in the CWAFL. The 17-year-old small forward will have another preseason under his belt and a chance to put more muscle mass behind him.

He was only held goalless last year three times as he kicked 54 goals in 16 games, but the more prolific he is the better the Giants will play. They know if they can kick it forward and bring it to ground, Macauley is every chance to put it through the sticks, which will help make up for the loss of Franky Bright to Cowra. He has pace to outrun bigger defenders and the strength to throw aside the smaller, quicker players who might line up on him and is a weapon for Mark Kennedy.

OUR VIEW: The young took another massive step last season and were only two points off a maiden finals appearance. Having lost very few players in the off-season, expect them to take another step and make the grand final in 2019 as their group matures. The only knock on them might still be the smaller bodies and ability to hit the scoreboard against the Bushrangers sides, but we wouldn't be surprised if they absolutely tear some games apart.

COACH: Shayne Wilesmith

LAST YEAR: Fifth

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Fifth

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Bushranger Rebels (away), Cowra (away), Bye, Bushrangers Outlaws (away) Orange (home)

PLAYER TO WATCH: Bevan Charlton-White

Charlton-White has one of the best double-barrelled surnames we've come across in any sport across the region, and the midfielder has the talent to back it up. He'll be needed even more in season 2019 with skipper and midfield linchpin Hamish Pearce missing after doing an ACL while playing touch football in the off-season.

How the Demons' 2018 best and fairest winner responds to the added pressure and attention will go some way to defining Dubbo's season, as at his best he can burst through packs and kick bags of goals. If he can bring his A-game, the Demons will be tough to beat.

OUR VIEW: Can they travel? Word is numbers have been strong during pre-season. However, the same issue will remain. Can the Demons can bring a full squad to every game? If so, they'll be right up there with the Bushies, Giants and Tigers as the top dogs of the competition. The problem lies with the nearly three-hour trip (each way) the side has to make every second week, and with a new contingent of players from out near Nyngan, the gap between the club's best and worst is chalk and cheese.

If Shayne Wilesmith can somehow bring his full squad to Bathurst every second week, they'll make their presence known and make finals without a doubt, being just one game off taking part in play-offs last year. They'll win far more home games than they'll lose and hand out bruises no matter the result but until they can achieve results on the road, we're left wondering what could be from the talented list. As much as we want to see the Demons roaring into finals, we can't see it happening this year.

COACH: Aaron Halls

LAST YEAR: Sixth

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Sixth

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Orange (home), Bye, Cowra (away), Bushrangers Outlaws (home), Bushragers Rebels (away)

PLAYER TO WATCH: The Condobolin Boys

After losing a few players during the 2019 off-season, Parkes representatives trekked down to Condo after their football side announced they weren't able to field a senior men's side. Condoblin has taken part in the Northern Riverina Football League, but didn't have the numbers to form a side in 2018. 

Parkes have potentially thrown those players a lifeline, with five players reportedly interested by early March, but with an hour's travel one way to home games and three hours to Bathurst, the question isn't about their quality but about their availability. Extra numbers for Parkes could be the difference between a couple of wins and half a dozen. 

OUR VIEW: Parkes are a bit of an enigma. The club's first season back last season was a success story for the CWAFL, but it took months for the Panthers to put a win on the board - and even then it was only due to a technicality, with Dubbo playing an unregistered player.

One of the biggest issues for the Panthers, is similarly to the Demons, they struggle with numbers on the road and have plenty of shift workers who are available one week and away the next, and coach Aaron Halls said at the 2019 season launch the Panthers are building for a 2020 assault on finals, with bigger numbers expected in 2020.

COACH: Ben Rodin

LAST YEAR: Didn't play

PREDICTED 2019 FINISH: Seventh

FIRST FIVE ROUNDS: Bushrangers Outlaws (away), Dubbo Demons (home), Parkes Panthers (home), Orange Tigers (home), Bushrangers Rebels (home)

PLAYER TO WATCH: Franky Bright

He was a key pillar for the Giants last season and is a stalwart of the CWAFL, but it'll be Bright's off-field capabilities the Blues will need more than on-field. Cowra's expecting to have a number of kids don their jumper this season, and while Bright will be a big part of directing traffic he'll also be guiding them off-field and making sure the club keeps numbers up during the season.

OUR VIEW: Will they make it through all of 2019? That's the key question. There's no doubt there are some seriously talented footballers in Cowra - anyone who's watched their juniors play knows how seriously they take the sport down there - but will they have enough of them? If they can field a full 18 with spares on the bench, they could well make finals - the club did win the competition in 2016, but we're yet to know if we'll see Cowra circa 2016 or Cowra circa 2017 this season. 

While it doesn't get under way for another few weeks, the CWAFL Women's competition is rolling on as strong as ever in season 2019, with all six sides returning for another crack at premiership glory. The competition's biggest year was the first time the Bathurst Bushrangers had their hands pried off the premiership cup, with the reigning champions and minor premiers bundled out in straight sets.

Dubbo and the Bathurst Giants played off in the final, with the undermanned Demons winning the flag on the road in a thrilling grand final.

Predicted ladder:

Key player: Amy Symons (Orange Tigers)

While Jacqui Harris stood up as the skipper and controlled the midfield for the Tigers in 2018, arguable no-one in the side is more crucial to the team's morale and structure as Symons. The bullocking full back is the glue that holds the Tigers' backline together. How well she can not only negate her opposing player but also pull others into position and run off to clear the ball will go a long way to determining how deep into finals the Tigers can go. 

Our view: The Bushrangers have had mortgage on the premiership cup for the competition's history, and last season was the first time they haven't won it, let alone not made an appearance at the Big Dance. They'll be hungrier than ever before and more difficult to beat than in years past - and that's a scary thought.

However, the Bushrangers have had a mammoth turnover in their list, with only 10 players sticking around after last year's loss, with plenty code-swapping into other sports or stepping away from footy, but there's no doubt the footy factory of the Central West can turn their newcomers into absolute guns. 

Additions made by the Giants means you can't write them off and while we reckon we'll see an all-Bathurst grand final, our tip is it'll be a return to teal and black confetti after the final siren blows.

The women's competition kicks off the week after Easter, on April 27.