My expectations would be that we challenge these teams more than we have this year and upset a few. That we defend better, reduce the missed tackles and offloads we concede too readily. That we turn up week to week with desire and looking like we want to be there/win. If we can do that, we have the cattle to perform well.
The finishing number is a bit more arbitrary as so many factors can go into that. Outside of Melbourne, just about every team is a key injury away from dropping 4-5 spots on the ladder minimum.
I agree that 2023 would be the goal to challenge for a title, if we can recruit well again next year.
That's a good point. Looking at those top 4 or 5 sides, we know at the moment how much of a level above us they are in terms of quality so performing consistently well against those teams is a measure on how we are going.
I would also add as a measure that we should be winning the games we are expected to win.
Stability in the ranks (playing group and back office) with minimal negative exposure would top it off.