I have heard that since 2005

top 4 will still be Leeds,Saints,Wigan,Warrington as only possible winners.Huddersfield or maybe Cas or Hull as a surprise top 4 entrant but none of those can win the trophy.Forget the rest, whipping boy SL rabble as William would say .

sounds cocky, but still stands true.feel free to bring this back up if Salford or Widnes make top 4

no way will we make top 4 and you can bookmark that , yes we have injuries , but lets not mistake Catalans are bloody awful . This is now a true test of the coach and so far he is not coming up with the answers . discipline is shocking , Ferres and Moon gave away ridiculous penalties last night , the half backs regularly take wrong options and Burrow as captain is another glaring error . We are constantly just hoping that offloads or magic from our centres are going to get us out of trouble as we appear to have no structure to our attack . Greater tests than Widnes and Catalan away lay ahead and if we do not beat the Giants (which i think we will by the way i reckon that the first win would then be Wakey at home

So when I've mentioned injuries before it's "an excuse"......but I suppose when you mention them it's not?

Is anybody 'panicking'? Expressing concerns maybe.

Personally, after the heights of last season with the fitting finale to the Leeds (and game's) greats I will forgive the team for very probable lean times this season, if it puts us in a better position for 2017 and beyond. Sport is all about the ups (and it can't get any more 'up' than last season) and downs. Always has been.
How many teams can be realistically expected to perform to the same levels after losing not 1, but 2 inspirational players for the following season? This is our transitional season that, although without design, is giving our younger lads valuable experience.
Having said that, I still see nothing in the rest of SL that does not change my opinion that Leeds still have every chance of winning silverware again this season. As always it will largely come down to injuries for all in contention. Standards are pretty level across the SL, even if that level is dramatically less than the top NRL teams (plenty of given their reasons for why that is).

Nobody wants to see teams competing at widely differing levels. In the same way I would not be so happy to see amateur teams trying to compete against SL teams I must confess I would not be so keen to see any more extended WCC games, until that differing level of standards is resolved. All I want to see is competitive games....at whatever that level might be.

Panic's not the word, but the attitude is just not right IMO. We have more than enough quality players still available to at least be able to defend far better. Attack started to click a bit, which is good, but the team needs an attitude adjustment in defence.

If you actually think that then we might as well not pick any of the older players and start Lilly sutcliffe Golding Baldwinson etc. in every game...

I would agree with that, but also take into account having Lilley and Burrow on the pitch pretty much the whole game significantly weakens us. We really do need Faloon back ASAP, that will give us the opportunity to rotate the two little guys and will also give us one more solid defender in the middle.That said, pish poor one on one attempts, and especially slowing down the ruck and marker work needs looking at and improving this week against Huddersfield or we will continue to leak points whoever is on the field.

Hardaker
Briscoe
Watkins
Moon
Hall
Sutcliffe
McGuire
Galloway
Falloon
Garbutt
Ferres
Ablett
Cuthbertson

Burrow
Delaney
Ward
JJB

Singleton

At some point this season we will be fielding a team similar to this. That team will compete with anyone else in super league. Simple as that.

In the mean time, this is an opportunity for young players to gain experience, fringe players to prove themselves and senior players to show leadership. Of these three, I'd say so far it's only the first that is happening. Do we need our players to step up and show some fighting attitude-yes! Are we panicking- certainly not.

We all knew this "transition" was coming and again i find myself repeating it many under-estimated imo.
Of course the absentees don't help but things like defending and discipline/composure are more about attitude than ability which is where we are glaringly getting it wrong at the minute.
It's a tough period and i wouldn't be surprised to see another 06 type season but im hoping the Coach and the senior players address the weakness' asap and get the season going.
I think it's time for one of our infamous no holds barred team meetings where we tear ourselves a new arris and hopefully a new leadership group emerge.

Agree with all that, barring one thing; defence also demands the ability to work as a unit. I don't think there's a simple short cut in achieving that aim and while attitude's obviously crucial - and indeed may have been lacking - there have been too many defenders left one-on-one due to uncertainty in the ranks. In those circs, players will get brushed aside, regardless of commitment.

Agree on defending, all the chopping and changing can't help with the structure, especially out wide. But the attitude an application can improve in the middle of the park.

I will be home to see the over Easter games hopefully things will be improving injury and formwise

It's my party and I'll panic if I want to.

A bit of raw panic every now and then can be useful.

If No one minds I'm borrowing this for the Wire forum for those Wire fans that think those of us expecting to be in the middle 8s this year and considering the Coaches positions are getting ahead of ourselves...

thanks

Sorry, but I did have a giggle at this. Still feel that way?

Ah well everyone makes wrong predictions, most on here have made many more than me through 2011-2015.

Too true. I wasn't trying to have a go, under the circumstances, I just found it morbidly amusing!



Btw, you are right. Can't remember exactly, but I think I had Leeds finishing 4th or 5th in my pre-season prediction this year

?

Tbf given the date (Feb 2016) I was probably expecting a little bit more to be done in the transfer market for this season. Before this season started in the prediction thread I had us 3rd and no trophies so it showed a change.

[size=150"It's like deja-vu, all over again."[/size

Yogi Berra

Why do you think that wakey will be an easy game if you watched them last night they deserved the 2 points

If it had only been Leeds you would have a point but it wasn't - the team that won the competition had as bad if not worse injury situation than Leeds. As did Castleford, as did Warrington.

For you it was one of a number of excuses for 2016 - many of which were self inflicted by the club's inability to strategically plan and cope under pressure.

Self inflicted:
The game against the Kiwis
The shorter pre-season
The inability to protect their training facilities
The inability to replace Sinfield & Peacock

Inability to react
When the flood happened it took ages to get proper training facilities
Playing injured players to get wins early
Bizarre coaching decisions
Keeping over the hill players and coach too long

Sal, why are you dragging up old posts from 2016?
Also you've missed his point completely.

The obsession people have with my previous posts is alarming.

Seems that way doesn't it? I wonder who will be the saviour pished off NRL badly needed pivot in the relegation play offs this year?