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Comment away, I dont really mind. I agree that some of the defending was soft and that we cant read much into it. But you seem to think that in SL all defences are tip top and you need to do something amazing to score a try. You really dont. And I include Hull's defence in that.

League Leaders - St Helens
Grand Final Winners - Hull FC. Harry Sunderland Trophy - Albert Kelly.
Challenge Cup Winners - Castleford Tigers. Lance Todd Trophy - Grant Millington.

Man of Steel - Luke Gale.
Young Player of the Year - Jacob Trueman.
Top Tryscorer - Ben Barba.
Coach of the Year - Justin Holbrook.

This one hurts. Had we not gone into liquidation he would probably have been our starting half by now. And the future he has looks very bright indeed.

Yes I do. Thanks for pointing that out.

Looks like he might start the season as our first-choice 6 this year.

It’s hard to tell how this season will pan out as injuries and suspensions will inevitably play their part.

Leeds and Cas won’t perform as well as they did last season IMO, with other teams below improving.

Saints are the favourites for the top and Hull will be there or thereabouts. Wire will improve enough to make the 8 but not the 4.

See top 8 as Saints, Hull, Cas, Leeds, Wigan, Wakefield, Warrington and Hudds.

I can see Wigan/Wire gunning for the cup if the season doesn’t pan out the way they wanted in the league.

It's interesting because a lot of people kept saying last year that Leeds weren't performing well (and we arguably weren't) even though we were 2nd for a lot of it.
We've still got plenty of room for improvement performance wise from last years regular season.

Definitely. Perhaps we're due a season where we play well when it least matters and the trophies go elsewhere. As opposed to 2016 when we didn't play well at all and last year when we played as you've described.

No team had anywhere near the same pressure on them to do well last year as Leeds did after how 2016 panned out. It was all about winning games for Leeds regardless of how attractive it looked especially after the Cas hammering early doors.

No pressure on us to deliver this year could really see us back to 2015 season style.

Hope so, good if cas can keep theirs and a few others play with similar freedom too. I agree about no pressure up to a point but Myler in particular will be under scrutiny.

I don't think they'll be an issue with Myler with regards the regular season.....again McGuire was criticised during the year before coming strong for the playoffs. He was as hot and cold as Myler has been in his career. The Myler concern will come crunch SF/F time in the cup/playoffs which I don't know yet if he'll be able to produce.

i agree and that myler will be judged down the line in big games that matter
i think that he will score 20 tries during the regular season
myler has the ability to be a great player and he just needs to deliver these great performances if and when the big games come around to be judged as a comparative player of the ilk of magsy,burrow or sinny were in the big games and how they controlled them with master classes of excellence

I think it will be a fight between Saints, Wire and Leeds this year.

Leeds are a 50/50 for me - they could have one of those years where they're on fire (hopefully) and blow most teams away, but they could also really struggle - the loss of McGuire and Burrow is huge, not just in big games, but as part of the fabric of the club. There's still certainly the talent in the squad, but as a unit, who knows how they'll go.

I think Saints will lead the way for most of the year, with Wire not far behind. So, I'm going to go for;

Cup - Saints
League Leaders - Saints
GF - Wire

MoS - Barba
Lance Todd - Barba
Harry Sunderland - Bryson Goodwin

20 tried based on what? The best he’s managed is 16 and that was when Wire won the league and scored over 1000 points.

I don't think he'll score 20 tries but unlike at Warrinhton he will win a GF at Leeds.

Still have plenty of improvement but I also think for Cas and Leeds our positions were affected by how poor others were, as well as how we played.

I just feel that both clubs will lose games against the likes of Wigan, Wire and Saints who all struggled in parts last year. Points lost will bring those sides closer to the top two.

And Hull need to combat their inconsistency too.

Leeds were 1-1 against each of Wigan, Saints and Wire in the regular season. (Won every home game and lost the away games). Beat the first two again in the Super 8's but we earnt the home advantage. So any worst record against them is reliant on them coming through Headingley and winning whilst keeping their home record intact.

But they also lost against some pretty bang average sides too. Just don't think it will be as easy as it was.

I think as per normal Leeds and Wigan will be the teams to beat.
Castleford Tigers wont have such a good season like they did last and i expect Warrington Wolves to do much better than last season.
I'm expecting Hull FC to do well again this season and are my outside bet to win the grand final.
Salford Red Devils for me will finish bottom

Catalans will do much better than last year and will challenge for silverware as they prepare for the imminent arrival of their cousins in Toulouse.

Having Catalans and Toulouse in and doing well in Super League will light a fire of public interest and support for rugby league in southwest France. It also will mean 13 more games televised on Sky.

Next stop Avignon.

Good point that. If Toulouse do eventually make it to Super League will they have all their home games on Sky like Catalan? Will they have alternate home games so there's always a French home game on a Saturday? Guess if that day ever it's something we can discuss then I guess.

We are expecting that Toulouse will have all their home games available for the French TV network and thus available for Sky.

Actually I miscalculated the number of games that will be telecast. Because Toulouse's entry to SL is likely to be part of an increase from 12 to 14 clubs, Catalans will also have 2 more games to play at home each season. That ,means that we will have 15 more games a year to watch on Sky. But this will be more likely to occur if Catalans and Toulouse play their home games on alternate weekends. It has to be arranged but the RFL can do it if they have the brains to arrange it.

You may want to have another think.

Catalans and Toulouse would play each other home and away.

Interesting reading looking back on this thread.... I'm looking good on the prediction front - unfortunately Leeds crashed and burned rather than blowing teams away.