ChCh United 1 Nelson 1 Nomads 2 Halswell 1 Western 2 Coastal 2 This outcome would leave the league tied up allowing Tech to run away again.
From what I hear not all the Cant Utd players are returning to Tech, could be some surprises. And Tech will have had no games together as a team until they start their MPL games which may see them vulnerable for the first 2-3 games while others will have forged on and got their starting lineups sorted, will have to wait and see, same thing happened last year with Tech, Western and Nomads struggling in the early games once they got underway. Tech & Western came right but Nomads struggled the whole season.
Tech have had a whole ASB Premiership season together! The league is there's to lose every year. There is no benefits for the Mainland League by having all the talent at one club. It ruins the league.
ASB Premiership is not the same thing and stepping down to a lower league presents challenges on its own and the side they put out in the first game will not be the same as the one that plays the last game in the ASB Premiership, although I agree it really is theirs to lose.
Disagree with your statement that their are no benefits to one club having all the talent for 2 reasons.
Firstly if they can attract all the talent then good on them they must be doing something right. The benefit to the league is that all the other clubs must respond and try and match this or better it, i.e. competition is a good thing. What really detracts from the game is clubs saying boo hoo poor us we can't compete against them. Fortunately this is no longer the prevalent attitude amongst MPL clubs, and others (Richmond, FC 2011) are applying pressure from beneath as well which is the best thing for the game.
Secondly I don't believe Tech do have all the best talent. I'm pretty sure if you looked around the other clubs you could select an 11 that would match or better Canterbury United 100%. What they do have is a coach that manages to get the best out of his team and respects their loyalty. Winning breeds winners. All the best players at one club ruins the league? From who's perspective? Not mine that's for real. They set the standard, it's up to everyone else to match or better it. Their are various ways of doing this, mergers, paying players etc. but what it really requires is dedicated comitted people who are up to the challenge. Woolston Tech had a relatively recent period of poor performance at the premier level, they sorted themselves out and are now the dominant club, good on them. And don't forget they are looking for similar success in the women's league as well which is very good for the game in general.