1. Toronto, bought Super League already so give it them now !
2. Weirdnes, just because of Gelling & Inu bit could implode quite easily & end up 3rd or 4th !
3. Toulouse to go from strength to strength in an even stronger Chamionship !
4. Fax, doing it the right way !
5. Bradford or Leigh, would depend on injuries for Leigh with a squad far to small, maybe 5 or 6 short of a full squad !
6. Leigh or Bradford, Bradford seem to be building steadily & have some very good players I would like at Leigh + they have a solid & growing fan base !
The rest don't matter much but I expect Batley to be tough on their own patch & be mid table, Fev I can't work out but could be anywhere from 5th to 7th & I would like Swinton to go well but realistically will just escape the bottom 2. Sheffield to implode & have a stinker of a season !

Toronto will finish top but we (Widnes) can beat them I think in a one off game come the end of the season. Having the final game this time over in England personally i think is a huge blow to them.

Gelling and Ashall standout players for Widnes.
We have a strong pack with Liam Hood (very underrated, best hooker in the division), Cahill, Tangata, Dean, Hansen.

We struggle in the halves but Jack Owens has slotted in very well.

We’ll claim quite a few injuries to the i pitch then our squad will really be tested. Not much strength in depth.

Toulouse does not struggle in the halves. In Jonathan Ford and Stanislas Robin Toulouse has the best two halves in the Championship. It also has excellent outside backs. The only question is the power of the Toulouse forwards. If the Toulouse forwards can at least hold their own then Toulouse will beat Widnes, and maybe even Toronto.

The opening fixtures throw up a lot of perfect games for us to establish how everyone is fairing.

Leigh vs Toulouse - Interesting battle. Have Leigh recruited well enough after their earlier trauma, and will Toulouse travel well?
Batley vs Barrow - Will Batley be pushing for the playoffs and are Barrow going to be in the relegation fight?
Bulls vs Featherstone - Battle of playoff contenders. A good indication of whether Bulls have recruited well enough to make the playoffs, and if Feath have built the strength back up after the financial blip.
Rochdale vs Dewsbury - Are Rochdale relegation fodder, can Dewsbury be more than mid-table.
Sheffield vs Swinton - Are Sheffield just coasting in mid-table, can Swinton avoid the drop.
Widnes vs Halifax - Another interesting one. Widnes looking to bounce straight back up, with a tough game against an established playoff side in Fax.
York vs Toronto - Do York have enough to thrive in this division, and are Toronto a cut above the rest?

Despite my previous post regarding the "inevitability" of The Championship, there are some cracking games there.
Widnes v Fax and York v Toronto should be excellent games and it will be interesting to see whether Leigh are anywhere near Toulouse, who you would expect to win this one (settled side and all thet).

Widnes V Fax should be a great game and after it we'll know more about if Widnes have the stomach for the fight that they didn't show in the middle 8s. Fax are one of the toughest teams in the division (provided they have their playmakers available).

While I was seriously impressed with York last season I think Toronto will be far too good. Same applies to Toulouse vs Leigh (who haven't had much time to train together).

this might shock a few Bradford fans but I genuinely hope they make a dent in this years predictions to some on here

Sounds like widnes have lost a few to injury already.

We’re having a stinker

Inu - 5 weeks
Cahill. - 6 weeks
J Chapelhow - 4 weeks

Really thin on the bones. I think we can beat Fax but will struggle in games 2 and 3 against Toulouse and Toronto

Team will look like

Ashall
Buckley
Dean
Gelling
Ince
Craven
Owens
T Chapelhow
L Hood
Adam Tangata
Harrison Hansen
Sam Wilde
Mcfeaff Leulaui.

Young energetic Widnes lads in the backs who wont let us down, Gellings quality will shine through.

We’re light upfront but Liam Hood, Tangata and Hansen will lead the way. As long as we make the play offs it’s all about hitting it hard come the end of season.

You're playing Jack Owens in the halves? Is he your first choice seven?

We have 4 Widnes lads available in the halves, not ideal and it’s the position we’ve struggled with since Brown.

Owens
Craven
Lyons
Gilmore

I was sceptical about Owens there. Apparently he played this position for Leigh last year and it was his natural position growing up. By the sounds of it, he’s been our best player in the 3 warm up games up to now. A lot of fans who wasn’t sure on him have changed their mind so hopefully he’ll go well.

Fax will look like this depending on players been fit

1.QLT
2.Robinson
3.Tyrer
4.Butler
5.Sharp
6.Murrell
7.White
8.Fleming
9.Kaye
10.Fairbank
11.Larroyer
12.Barber
13.Grix.
14.Kavanagh
15.Kidd
16.Moore
17.Chapman Smith

1. Toronto - Recruited well some SL/NRL standard in there. McDermott probably the biggest signing of all and will do what Rowley failed to do.......earn promotion to SL. Will beat York comfortably in the first game.

2. Toulouse - Improved their squad with the signings of Parata, Bergal, Evans and Vaivai. Think their home form will only be bettered by Toronto’s. All depends on how they travel. Will narrowly beat Leigh in the opener but will suffer a scare.

3. Widnes - All depends on if they get injuries as they don’t have much depth. However their starting 13 is a very good one. Inu and Gelling are class. Ashall-Bolt could have a breakout season too. It’s a long season and if they keep fit they could be in line for the MPG. Think they could suffer a shock start with Inu and Cahill out.

4. Halifax - Against my better judgement I think Halifax will finish just above Bradford. Very solid side and recruited well. Tangata is a big loss but a good replacement in Kavanaugh. With a spine of QLT, Murrell and Johnston it’s hard to see them lower. I think the three games vs Bradford will decided 4th and 5th. If key players are fit and ready I can see them turning Widnes over in Round 1.

5. Bradford - Have the potential to finish 3rd or 4th with the squad we have. However it is a long season and we are well known to have some bogey teams in this division. With Bustin and Peltier out for a bit we could struggle up front if we pick up another injury or two. Our back line is one of the best in the league providing Hitchcox and Webster stay fit. Will be tough to beat at home. Chisholm needs a good season and I think Wildie will be one of our better performers this season. I think it will be a tough game against Featherstone in the opener but should win by 6-10 in the end.

Anything below 5 is just too hard to predict. Leigh and Featherstone both have a case for top 5 depending on who they manage to get from St Helens and Leeds. However I think with Leigh recruiting a few of their ‘old’ team (McNally, Pownall, Ridyard, Spencer etc) they will gel quicker than expected.

Rochdale and Swinton for me will finish bottom two but only because I think Barrow at home will be hard to crack and they’ll pick up a few wins against better sides. Sheffield, Batley abd Dewsbury will be interesting to see this season. I rate Greenwood and hope he does well at the Rams.

York are the biggest unknown for me. One of the best young British coaches in the game. A very good squad. But Adam Robinson will be a miss in the pack as will Joe Batchelor. With no dual reg with Hull KR it will be hard for them to win certain games where they would lack that creativity. Their new stadium could provide a mid season boost and I hope that the opener their (York vs Bulls) is a great spectacle. I hope they finish mid-table and consolidate their Chanpionship status and build in the future. Hope I’m wrong though and they challenge for top 5 with Halifax, Bradford, Leigh and Featherstone!

Either way it’s going to be a bloody good season to watch!! I for one will probably watch every single game highlights!

Grow up, these were predictions, many of which were made before Saints sent you a bunch of players. For some reason some Leigh supporters continue to have a chip on their shoulder and take offense at something as innocuous as a league predictions thread.

There's 4 points separating 2nd from 8th. Don't think it's the time to be laughing about predictions.

A little bit touchy. Predictions are predictions and nothing else.

Happy with Widnes so far. 5 wins from 6, fielding 11/12 home grown players each week. One more win and hopefully we’re off the bottom. I think we’ve had th hardest start having played Toronto, Toulouse, Halifax, Fev and Bradford. We’re only 4-5 wins off fifth place, all about surviving this year.

Leigh look good, their dual reg with Saints has been a huge help. Liam Hood has returned and will be huge for them.

York and Sheffield the surprise packages for me. Very very open and even though we’ve took a 12 point hit, I’m really enjoying watching Widnes this year. Rode our luck Bradford yesterday, very lucky but il take everything that comes out way.

A long way to go yet



Didn't see your predictions, did I miss them? At the time I wrote those Leigh's future was very far from certain. It still may be if Saints get a few injuries and decide to recall some of their players that you have on loan. For now they're going very well so good luck, apart from when you play us.

For some reason,some folk lack a sense of humour. Next time I shall insert a wink emoji so you don't get all hairy @r$3d.

Looks like iv'e got a few bites with a little bit of innocent banter.


Anyway,should be a cracker of a game on Sunday.



[uThey're here[/u.

York remind me of ourselves. Good coach who gets his not amazing but decent squad playing well. May never make it to SL but may be a solid championship team for a while. Toronto probably go up this year then Leeds or Wigan next.

York seem to be the side that's most likely to surprise a few tipsters at the moment.

Well I'm hoping John Kear does exactly this with Bradford once our early season injury problems settle down a bit. He's a past master at making teams greater than the sum of their parts.