THIS year could be a lively one for the Nationals.

With an election due next year and the Government languishing in the polls, 2013 could see the National party achieve one of its best election results in decades.

There are three NSW seats the Nationals are a good shot to win - Richmond, Lyne and Page - depending on Liberal competition.

There will be some shuffling prior to the 2013 election and the ground work would need to be laid this year.

Senate leader Barnaby Joyce remains the party's most prominent media player and has the strongest brand.

His next move will help shape the party; its direction and its image.

He has openly discussed a move to the Lower House - partly motivated by the possibility of one day being Nationals leader - but the issue remains which seat he'd run for.

Joyce wants Maranoa in Queensland but sitting Nationals MP Bruce Scott isn't keen on retiring.

The truth is Joyce could take him out at preselection but doesn't want to go down that path.

Interestingly enough, Scott took the seat in 1990 when 62-year-old Nationals MP Ian Cameron retired.

Scott will be 70 in 2013.

Joyce could go for independent Tony Windsor's NSW seat of New England, but it would be a high-risk strategy if Windsor runs - he's a tough opponent.

And throw into the mix the possibility of the retirement of Alby Schultz in Hume.

Hume is a seat local Nationals Senator Fiona Nash could probably also take if she wanted to move to the Lower House. Her Senate replacement would need to be a good one.

Her considered approach to issues has contrasted well with the no-BS style of fellow NSW Senator John Williams.

If Joyce leaves the Senate, Nash would almost certainly become the Nationals Senate Leader - which is an incentive for her to stay.

The Nationals ranks will likely increase next year even if the Coalition manages to lose the election.

But its fate depends largely on the performance of the Government - more bad government from Labor would see Nationals prospects increase markedly.

But as former prime minister John Howard showed, it doesn't matter how unpopular a government is mid-term if it's in front on election day.