Rake's Rave: Can the Mandurah Mustangs play finals footy in 2019?

Context:

The two parties had gone their separate ways mid-season after butting heads on how the club could move forward, and George Costello was ushered in as the interim coach (he would later accept the role full time).

While the Mustangs would immediately chalk a win over Waroona in the wake of the split, the remainder of the season had this "doom-and-gloom" feel surrounding it.

They finished 2018 with two wins and 16 losses, avoiding the wooden spoon by a slim percentage margin.

Now, fast-forward to the 2019 season and they've already equaled that win tally in three rounds, and are eyeing a third-straight victory against a tough Brumbies side this weekend.

Now this column is no indictment on Aitchison or his abilities as a coach, for all I know it could have just been a bad fit or a matter of wrong place, wrong time.

More so, this piece is written in recognition of how far the club has come.

Now obviously one swallow doesn't make a summer, but given the current landscape of the league I see the Mustangs as more likely to play finals than not in 2019.

There's a clear gap separating the top three teams from the competition, and you can likely pen Pinjarra, Rockingham and Baldivis all in for a finals berth.

So that leaves two spots up for grabs.

Waroona are improved but don't look ready for an immediate surge back to the post-season, and both South Mandurah and Halls Head are solid enough teams but have hurt their chances getting off to 0-3 starts.

That leaves the Mustangs and Centrals, who both have arguably stronger claims on a top-five spot over the aforementioned three.

No doubt the folks at Rushton Park probably want to keep a lid on things, but hey, continue this solid start you've built and there's no reason you can't feature in September footy again.