By MARK CASHMAN

Many good Shute Shield judges reckon that the Hunter Wildfires were set to rattle home at the back end of the season and may be even grab a spot in an expanded finals series.

The Wildfires played five of the top six teams in the competition in the first couple of months and looked to be coming to terms with the physicality and pace of “footy life in the big smoke”.

In the end they finished ninth on 18 points and have set up a solid base to work off for the 2022 season.