Ok, so last year I jinxed us a wee bit (we only won 2 of our next 8 after my ill timed burst of confidence).

This year I thought I'd pose the question before the season starts.

We have lost Bud which is a big loss, Senior which to be honest has been coming and Cross and Biff went mid season.

With Moore and Griffin looking good on Boxing Day and McShane and Hood combining well too I think we actually look very good this year. Zak, Kallum and BJB will be better for last years experience and so will Brian Mac.

So, with the optomism of a strong squad thats got youth and experience as well as experience of winning, and a coach who has won it from 5th I ask the question.

Why cant we go unbeaten this season?

We will lose against Hull KR in the opener. If not, more than likely against Wigan a week later.

We will not go unbeaten this coming season IMO, however I am feeling confident that we will finish higher than 5th and we will win at least 2 trophies.

With the wcc we will lose focus either the game before or the game after it, not that we could have gone undefeated anyway, I hope this thread was tongue in cheek.

Phil Clurke's rugby gods will sink us.

Yes and no in truth.

When you look at a full season its a heck of an ask especially as SL seems more competitive than ever.

However (and I said this last season) we are capable of beating any team on our day so on a game by game basis we are more than capable of winning each and every game.

Faulty logic mate. Every other team is capable of beating any team on their day, but I don't think that there is a team out there thaty is likely to have 'their day' every week for a whole season. That requires not just 'one-off performances' but consistency over the season.
Why select Leeds as potential 100 per and not for example Warrington, Wigan or Saints, all of whom were way more consistent than us last season.
On this basis, even if you're less ambitious and pose the question 'Can we win the hubcap?', most informed opinion would suggest that the answer is probably no.

FWIW, I think the most appropriate question in theses terms is probably 'will we lose less than last year?';
At least we can give a reasoned response to that.

No chance whatsoever of going unbeaten and another ridiculous thread.

Spot on mate. Stupid question to even ask

More to the point, if anything last season showed this would be nothing more than a cosmetic achievement.

Would be nice to finish top this season but if we finish 5th I won't lose too much sleep.

Not a chance of any team Going unbeaten nowadays.

All I ask is for more entertainment. I know I will probably be in the minority here, but I ain't overly bothered about wins/losses as long as I am entertained. I pay my money to go watch an entertaining game of rugby - obviously I would prefer us to win, and yes will cheer along from the rooftops even if we win ugly. Last year, I thought with the way we played, particularly the first half of the season, the matches simply weren't enjoyable or value for money.
So, I would take rugby to a decent standard, with competitive and full blooded games and not worry too much about the final score line. Afterall, we will make the playoffs regardless, and thats when the winning really counts.

So would you swap Saints season to either Leeds, Wgan or Wire?
For me they played some very entertaining rugby considering the amount of injuries they suffered and putting in some un tried youngsters.

It would be nice if every game matched the spectacle and intensity of the Warrington playoff game because that was entertaining.

Leeds were entertaining at times last year, not so much at others!

That's a tough one, because obviously the euphoria of another grand final win is not something I'd want to miss out on. But, for me it's not about swapping seasons with Saints, I just want to feel I've had value for money each Friday night. And to be honest, if the first half of the season follows a similar pattern to last year, I'll be watching any away games that are on Sky from the comfort of my sofa and saving about £100. I don't mind paying to go and seeing us lose, providing I am still being entertained. But I'm not forking out to watch amateurish awful rugby.
Anyhow, fingers crossed we won't be anywhere near as sloppy this year and with a full preseason under McD, we can build on last season. I don't expect top performances every week, but neither do I expect the opposite either.

Has any side in the Superleage Era gone a whole season un defeated?

I'll be happy if we just get through the whole of the play-offs undefeated......again!

Huddersfield in NFP 2002?

That was in the SL [uera[/u, if not actually in SL.

well said, id take entertainment every week over two evenings of glory after months of dross

Good post this. I would have loved to have seen Leeds playing like Warrington for the most part of the season, and went away very disappointed from a lot of games last year.
For me though, getting to Wembley and winning at OT more than compensated for the bad start.
Some of the early games may have been somewhat valueless but let's face it, the last one was priceless.

the poor games made the big game wins and GF win made it all more sweeter

as long as we play well this side of the pennines i will be happy

If you include cup games I'd reckon no side has ever gone through a whole season unbeaten - I assume Hudds played in the Challenge Cup in 2002? Even the 80s-90s Wigan at their most dominant dropped a league game here or there.

I should probably clarify, I did only mean the regular season. I wasnt particularly thinking about the WCC, CC or playoffs but I can only assume if people are raising the question of difficulty of winning [ievery single game we play this year [/ithen you must have some confidence in our ability to win the regular season games?

Still not happening. mainly due to the fact the top 4 teams are so evenly matched these days that its highly unlikely that you would win 6 games against them. Added to it that the teams just below arent 100 miles off the pace and you cant peak 27 weeks in a row. I doubt it will ever happen in the salary cap era. The closest I have seen it in any sport was the New England Patriots who won all 16 regular season games a few years back and then won the 2 playoff games before the Super Bowl. LFC will tell you what happened there though



Even the dominant Green Bay Packers this year looked like they might go through the regular season unbeaten and knocked off a heap of top teams, before playing the lowly Kansas City Chiefs 3 weeks ago and coming away with the loss.

Anyway, history has shown us not to get out of the gates too quick. Whenever we have we always slump for a month or so. Id prefer us to set off competently before pushing hard at the end of the season again.

Whether you're talking about the whole seaason or just the regular season, this is still a pipe-dream.
I usually have confidence in the Rhinos to win any game, but not every game.
It's not just that it doesn't happen in SL. I'm struggling to think of any sport where a team has had 100% supremacy for so long.
Think of those that are miles ahead at the moment: Barcelona FC, Red Bull Racing, Green Bay Packers. All have their off-days or come across a great performance by the opposition once in a while. If they can't do it with the dominance they enjoy in their leagues why should Leeds who are were nowhere near the dominant team in their league last year.

Could you imagine the enormity of that. Going through the the entire weekly rounds unbeaten and then choking in the playoffs or the CC? I'd never go again!