Like I said, anything can happen on the day.
Predictions for 2018?
GPS rowing is a dynamic thing, which is hard to predict 2 weeks out, let alone a whole year- Wouldn't have given a hope to view at head of the river, after coming 7th of 8 in the heats at Gold Cup two weeks before, after being put in a group that was easily beatable (Scots, Joeys and High, if I remember correctly), Kings on the other hand were about 2.5 seconds from winning that day, then struggled to hold off Grammar at SIRC.
That being said, my predictions are
1. Ignatius- and impressive year 10 1st VIII and consistent results are seeing confidence build throughout rowing in general for the view boys. A season that sees more consistent improvement I believe will give the boys those few seconds that they need to bring home the Rennie
2. Shore- in spite of results from year tens that left a little to be desired, Shore has the will to pull off strong results. 3 returning members from last year, and many from the highly successful seconds, I think they'll be able to overcome the seeming lack of depth from year tens
3. Scots- probably pretty annoyed at this year's result (and making idiots of themselves with that video), but with the funds and depth in year 11s and 10s to get a solid result. #trusttheprocess
From there it's anyone's race, I believe.
St Joseph's will come in strong without doubt- Not exactly sure what happened midway through the second half of the season, but hopefully that won't happen again. With the vast majority of the 1sts being boys in the HSC year, they'll beyond doubt be looking for promise in year 10 and 11
I have the belief that Sydney Boys High may break a losing streak, after having a pretty solid race to about the 1500m- being ahead of Grammar and Kings for most of it. By the looks of it 5 rowers returning from the VIII may place them in position to improve on this.
Newington are hard to pick- If you'd think that a school full of stronger rugby boys would be able to get a boat moving, you'd be right in logic, wrong in practice.
Kings- an inconsistent season disappointed the boys. After promising results in the Gold Cup, Sydney Regattan and Sydney Grammar Regatta, you'd think they'd have been well in contention for a podium finish. If the rough edges can be sanded off the program, who knows what's possible. In spite of only 2 returning members of the firsts, the win in the year 10 first VIII will serve as an inspiration to the whole shed
Grammar- I was surprised by these guys too- after being 10 seconds off Kings and Newington at SRC regatta just 3 weeks from the big day, I figured it'd be a race between the GPS rugby schools, and the GPS 3rd grade rugby schools- Grammar showed me wrong, in spite of the headwind battering their light crew they were within a length of Kings and New. Had conditions been different, maybe they could've been faster. Still with only 2 returning rowers from the firsts (although 8 from the seconds) it may be hard to keep moving up.
TAS- (side note), rumour has it that TAS may be entering a VIII next year, after being very competitive in the IVs, it's a step up, but may eventually need to be made. They occasionally train in VIIIs, as a photo on their website suggests (it's uploaded as the file). It'd be nice to see all 9 GPS schools competing in one first grade event