now i know this will likely get picked apart by many, but for me (on paper) we must have the strongest squad in this years championship.


our starting 13 vs Keighley will likely be

Fieldhouse, Sheriffe, Heaton, Tyrer, Paterson; Handforth, Thackeray; Ambler, K. Ashall, Robinson, Manning, Divorty, Murrell.

with Subs: Holden, Walker, Taylor, Berrett, Bracek, Barlow, Casey, Davies

Add in the missing players due to injury,

Bowman,
Reittie,
Tonks,
Morro,
C Ashall,
Nanyn and Worrincy.

That is a very very strong squad for me.

The team to beat?

If we had the quality at Half back of the likes of Fev and Leigh I think we would be pretty darn good. We will be up there no doubt but once again slow ball from our halfs will hamper us I feel.

Ye we've definitely got to have a major improvement in the halfbacks to be the team to beat. Hopefully - now Penkys gone - Handforth may be able to control the game more like he did at Batley, but i'm not holding my breath. And also hopefully Murrell, Holden and Ashall might add something in creativity.

Looking at your players for next year I think you have by far the strongest pack of anyone and will boss the middle of the field

I would have said Leigh but obviously they'll be battling it out for a top six spot in Super League after Salford get kicked out. Featherstone Chokers will romp the league and then perform their party trick in the finals. Sheffield will sleepwalk to a NRC trophy win whilst Fax will take the big one with Daryl Pow-wow offering our players out but will be too busy picking up his dummy to follow it through.

To answer the question littlerich on your comment you think it's Leigh then Fev don't you think you team is stronger

Rich , lets leave Salford where they are , personally im looking forward to another very competitive season in our League , last season was good , next season could be better , i cant wait ,Leigh , Fax , Fev , the Seagulls , and Bullfrogs will all be up there .

I think we at Leigh will be very strong next year , along with Fax and Fev , i hope im right .

FEV are still my favourites despite the loss of Dickens. Still a strong pack. The best halfbacks and a SL hooker in Ellis. The backs are quality and they have some very good youngsters to come in. 1st or 2nd for me. Best coach. Fev the team to beat again. PREDICTION 1st

LEIGH. Big expectations. They have added some quality this year in Aspinwall, Penkywicz etc. However I dont see them having a strong squad when a few injuries come. Leigh are a bit like Fax. If Leigh are consistant they will win a trophy or two as they have the quality if not so much the depth. But if they pick up a few injuries they could struggle, especially with a number of clubs having SL reserve graders in. PREDICTION 2nd

FAX have the best and strongest pack on paper. Decent set of backs. Halfbacks and hooker are the weak areas. Lets see how the hookers go over the friendlies. Handforth and Thackray MUST do way better this year. Consistancy is needed or else its 3rd, 4th or even 5th. Some players should be in the last chance saloon this year. PREDICTION 3rd

SHEFFIELD will be again a tough team. I dont think they will be as strong as last year and win anything though. Teams will be wanting to beat the "Champions" and feel they will struggle at times. I think they lack strength in depth. But would still see them finish 3rd or 4th. PREDICTION 4th

BATLEY will give teams a tough time and they have the potential to win another trophy. I feel Batley dont have the strength in depth that fev and Fax do. True they will have some Giants players in but that could be a good or bad for them. Maybe wrong in underestimating Batley a bit. PREDICTION 5th

DEWSBURY will be the darkhorses. Recruited very well both players and coaches. Good mix of youth and experience and can see them causing the alleged bigger teams many problems especially at home. The weakness maybe that they have such a new team and new coaches and could take time to gel. Dewsbury are probably where Fax was last year in that they offer a strong squad on paper but can they put that in to a constant winning team? PREDICTION 6

The rest its very hard to tell as it depends alot on how much they get to have of their Sl boys. I would think teams strength will improve but not enough to beat the likes of Fev, Leigh, Sheffield and Fax. I hope a number of teams put out a U20s team and not just Fax, Fev, Leigh, Keighley and Sheffield. In fact the RFL should insist but I doubt that will happen!

Fev ought to be the team to beat despite the loss of Maloney & penalty machine Dickens with all the cash & add-on's they've been offering around judging by what a couple of stories I've heard from players still in the game.

Leigh, I wouldn't ever rule out, especially if you have to travel to their place on a friday night ! Rolo has the tools to become an outstanding coach & with their club seemingly on a firm footing again they'll always be dangerous in this division.

Sheffield, how the hell did they manage that last season ? Koudos to them, not only did they not play all their home games at the same venue, they travelled away for all their play off ties, thursdays on two occassions IIRC & then beat Fev up in the final. Tubbs gets the best out of his players & Sheffield are one of the teams who help to make this division what it is competition-wise.

I agree with LBC re: Dewsbury & going to theirs is never so easy.

Batley will improve on last season with Kear into his second term & although their ground is one of my fave visits, it always proves difficult & tough. Last season's loss there was a pinnacle moment in our season's league & told us a few things about some of our players ( and one thing that we already knew about a player we let go there ) !

Cougars, to be honest i haven't taken too much notice of their comings & goings in the off season but I feel they'll miss JD on & off the pitch and just his general involvement, I can see them on a bit of a poorer season for missing him alone.

Hunslet, pretty much similar assesment but they played quite well towardfs the end of last year.

The Cumbrian sides, i feel most sides will have it tough going up there but they'll all struggle on their travels so not too much threat from them.

US, I feel we should win everything put in front of us ( apart from the challenge cup ) with the squad, coaching, facilities & current structures at the club on & off the field. I don't see anything other than indiscipline on or off the field, injuries or suspensions ( but hopefully none of those things ) getting in the way, we have assembled an experienced side with some real grunt up front & if Rhino takes most sides on up the middle deliberately I feel ( especially in poor weather conditions ) we'll knock a all of the other sides over in that area of play. Out wide, we've as much pace & experience as any of the othe other sides around us to at least match them both in possession and when defending.

It's about time someone took Fev's league consitency away from them, whatever happens in semi's & finals is what it is & all players respond differently as we know but we're getting to regular finals nowadays & that experience should be assisting us. An improvement on the 50% win ratio in finals that we're running at would be more than welcome.

First of all Fax have a very good squad with strength in depth in most positions, I am sure there is a bit more money in reserve should we need to add any more players.
We should have improved on last season and hopefully settled down a bit.

Defense will be under scrutiny and I think the coaching staff will have looked long and hard at some new patterns to get it a lot tighter.

Attack will also have been given the once over with emphasis on getting the ball wider when the time calls for it, last year in some games our outside backs hardly saw the ball.

Fev, Leigh, Batley etc will be back as strong as ever and what about the Eagles.
Their run in at the end of the season was simply sensational and they will have some extra confidence from that.

One unknown is what will the teams who are allied to Super League sides be like??
Depending on who they put on the field anything could happen on a week to week basis and this is the thing that could put the consistency of the comp in doubt.