Ryan............that's Hall not Bailey......or Tomkins....that's Sam not Joel. I think Hardaker and maybe Blanch might be up there with them.

In fairness I did say usually, so a few exceptions from the SL era hardly blows away my point.
Anyway, 2004 was Vianakolo according to Wikipedia (Bradford finished 2nd)
So:
1996 Newlove, Saints, 1st.
1997 Vagana, Warrington, 9th
1998 Sullivan, Saints, 4th
1999 Kohe-Love, Warrington, 7th.
2000 Long, Saints, 2nd.
2001 Radlinski, Wigan, 2nd
2002 Dennis Moran, London, 8th
2003 Dennis Moran, London, 5th.
2004 Vianakolo, Bradford, 2nd.
2005 Calderwood, Leeds, 2nd.
2006 Lyon, Saints, 1st.
2007 Fa'afili, Warrington, 7th
2008 Gardner, Saints, 1st.
2009 Hall, Leeds, 1st.
2010 Richards, Wigan, 1st
2011 Tomkins, Wigan, 2nd.
In the last 8 seasons, only once has the top try scorer not played for the team finishing 1st or 2nd.
Only 1 player has been SL top try scorer twice. I always thought Vianakolo had been top try scorer practically every season he was a Bradford!

Is that a little dig at Leeds? Do you not think Leeds will finish in the top 4 this season? We may have finished 5th last season but we were 4th in terms of total tries scored!!

Not at all a dig, I said 'possible' exception because I don't think Leeds are definately going to finish in the top 4. I think it will be four of Warrington/Saints/Wigan/Hull FC/Leeds for top 4.

You think Catalan and Huddersfield will be worse than Hull this year? Apart from a new coach have they improved much on last years squad? Each to there own but I think they will probably finish 7th.

Yes, I think Gentle is a much better coach than Agar. And they have improved their squad with the signings of Heremaia, Seymour, McKinnon and particularly Lynch which will make them stronger (and I also think Jamie Ellis could go well and Westerman could begin to realise his potential).
I just have a gut feeling Huddersfield won't be as strong, I think the other teams have worked out how to 'play' them and their spoiling tactics are no longer as effective. As for Catalans they seem to be a bit inconsistent and, for obvious reasons, will drop points away from home too regularly to finish in the top 4.
We'll see though.

Hull have lost Fitzgibbon and Radford though, 2 big players from there forward pack. The good thing about SL this year is that a team you think will finish 4th I think will be 7th just scraping into the playoffs! I agree I dont think Hudds will be as strong but will be better than Hull imo and finish 6th.

Yes they have, following the NRL example. I think it's a good rule, especially as corner poles are now padded so thick.
Players shouldn't be penalised just because the poles are slanting towards the pitch, nor should they benefit from corner poles that are slanting away from the pitch.

Daryl Millard & Ryan Hall for me. Halls finishing in the 4N, although making him a marked man, was stunning and that was against top quality defences and Millard is a quality finisher, now with a season at Catalans under his belt he will no doubt improve.

I'm obviously biased but I'm surprised no one has picked up on Josh Charnley. I reckon he'll have a good shot at it if he stays fit. 27 tries in his first full season at age 19 was an excellent return. He doesn't get the accolades he deserves because of Sam Tomkins but I he is a terrific talent. I mean for me it was him, and not Sam, who was the gamebreaker in our two big cup wins against Wire and Saints last season. He has a brilliant step and great pace together with a fantastic attitude. Been a geniune pleasure to watch him come through our academy ranks and I think he'll be in the test team this year if he stays fit.

Aside from Josh though - of the top try scorers only Sam Tomkins, Pat Richards and Joel Monaghan scored more than a try a game in last years regular season. Pat probably would have won it again had he not missed 8 of the 27 rounds because he topped the strike rate and he barely has a bad game. Only times he's struggled to score for us in last 5 years is when he's played at full back.

My money is on Tomkins again next season.

Ryan Hall for me

Halls confidence must be sky high and I'd probably put my money on him just ahead of the Wigan wingers Charnley and Richards. If Chris Riley playsa full season he's not a bad shout as well.

Sam Tomkins may play some games back at 6 this season and I think that will push him out.

Apollobet offering 150/1 on Jodie Broughton looks pretty large for me. Not likely to win but at 1/4 odds the first 4, there'll be worse 37.5/1 shots you could back this year.