I'm guessing the league weekly reporter was sat somewhere warm he can't have been watching the match !

To be fair he did alright in the second half and started to make some good yards and put some hits in, however in the first 20 minutes he looked out on his feet, there was one point when he was down on his knees taking a breather. 8/10 for anyone in the team seems a bit OTT though.

I doubt Taylor is struggling for fitness as he's been at the club almost 3 months with very little down time.

I'd guess it was more a case of cobwebs getting blown out.

Performances in pre-season games can be deceptive. Anyone remember Howarth’s stormer at Warrington last season? It even earnt him a place in the squad vs Wakefield on the opening game and we all know how his performances went.

Does anyone think Harris has written off the Warrington game as such and will instead, in his mind set see it as a final intense ‘friendly’ before the first home game v St Helens? Obviously if we won, bonus/fantastic – but with us only potentially having 2 pre-season friendlies against a low standard of opposition it isn’t really what you would consider great preparation for a season opener away at Warrington. In contrast, two friendlies against lower opposition and an away game at Warrington is ideal preparation for an opening home game v St Helens.

Maybe I am reading into it too much, but perhaps the difficult start and likelihood of picking up maximum points has helped shape his pre-season plans.

No he won't have written off the Warrington game. He may save some of the older props for Saints game but he certainly will not write it off. I believe the first few games of the season are the best time to play the bigger teams as you can catch them cold!

I agree particularly with both Warrington and St Helens having their eye on the World Club Championships a week or two later. Just seems odd preparation to play only the two friendlies against Swinton and Hunslet, most clubs have at least one Super League opponent. Proof will be in the pudding I guess!

Whether we, (Warrington) are classed as a bigger club now I don't know, but, I think an opening game is a good time to play us as recently we seem to have started slowly. It should be a belter and I don't know what he 'odds' are, but, suspect it would be close?

The only odds I've seen are from BetFred and they've made Warrington firm favourites to win.

Salford are +12 on the handicap and 5/2 in the 80 minute betting.

I expect Warrington to be favourites that i have no doubt but from the first 2 games Warrington & Saints i would be happy to run the 2 sides close although a win from 1 of these 2 games would be nice! More realistically i see this against Saints but you never know.

I'm not overly fussed with the results of the first five or six games tbh. Historically, it's better to gain momentum at the halfway point towards the end of the season. Anything we get out of those first six is a bonus, and I'd like us to be strong at home. The biggest hurdle to getting in the crowds at home has been our wobbly record. If we can sort that this season we'll be on our way.

I understand where you’re coming from, but to me the first 5/6 games are vitally important if we're to build up some momentum and get the floating fans interested and attendances up. If we only win 1 of our first 5 or 6 for example, it could have negative effect on our attendances for the rest of the season. Whereas if we start well it creates a buzz around the place (similar to what Cas had last year and we did in 2006) and that buzz passes on to the players and they hopefully keep performing. Losing our first few will just start a wave of negativity everywhere, from the press right through to the fans on the terrace, who are now (rightly or wrongly) expectant that the team performs.

I'd take any win right now and think 12 must be a tempter for those that like a flutter

I hope that you get your 1 out of 2 obviously giving Saints a proper moral boosting, 'seeing two'

I agree with everything you've said. My personal thoughts are what I've written above. The general feeling of fans will probably be exactly what you've said. Especially for keeping attendances on the up. We started okay last season but it still dropped off, so it will take nothing less than a perfect start to maintain interest imo. It's a fine balance isn't it? Start strong and get momentum for it to run out too early in the season or start slowly, fans become critical but finish strong. Very rarely can you get a good start and maintain it, and all Clubs go through bad patches. Like I said, the best thing we can do is win at home. Anything away is a bonus. Making the AJ a fortress should be priority. It keeps things ticking over and local fans don't become as despondent.

Sums up my thoughts exactly.

The start of last season backfired for us I thought. The win against Wakefield and the decent crowd built up a lot of expectation and when the real test came against St Helens a few weeks into the season our players bottled it. We were walked over and the fact that Ryan Giggs was there and a few other local celebrities meant that the negative result spread in the media. It got our season off on the wrong foot and I dare even suggest that we never fully recovered. I remember after the game the traffic and congestion was ridiculous and the result was a reality shock to those who had high expectations. Our fanbase never really picked up again.

Even if only for the positive publicity, its vital we at least compete early on in the season.

Please remember that the season has two parts: we need to be doing well and get into the top 8 and do well once the cut-off has taken place.

As mentioned above the Saints home game was the one that did the damage when it came to retaining the casual supporters. It wasn't so much the loss but the hiding we were given after all the new found optimism.

What concerns me this year is the potential damage that could be inflicted if we suffer heavy losses against Warrington and Saints. The question is are players forewarned of what the negative commercial implications would be if this were to happen? I did recall last year when St Helens were going through a sticky patch their Chairman questioning his players commitment and it seemed to have a positive effect on future results. Lets hope the Doc will be sitting down with the coaches and players before the season starts to emphasise the financial importance to the business of how we start the year. I believe we aren't in a position to ease our way into the new season, we must hit the ground running.

This is a good point and very true.

Its alright for all of us dedicated lifelong supporters to say "oh well, we'll improve as the season goes on" if we lose to both Warrington and Saints but the problem is that it wont really inspire any of our part-time fans.

Last year, and to a lesser extent this year, a lot of our promotion and branding has been based around new 'marquee' signings. The club has promoted them almost as budget 'galacticos'. When some of our less convinced fans see these so-called superstars being walked over it really kills all of the promotion and hype dead in its tracks. Hence why its vital we try and get a result against Warrington or Saints.

Are you a Salford fan Mario, a question you've been asked a couple of times but studiously avoided.

A couple? It's like you've got tourettes. You're getting boring with it. Can't you just foe him and let the rest of us read threads that stay on topic?

Are you a Salford fan Mr Lampwick, a question I'm asking you for the first time.

it's a joke, obviously. If you actually read some of the clart he posts you'll suss why I keep asking.

I'm going to ignore you anyway, Frank Pritchard will come and put a bat up your nightdress when he inevitably signs up.

Not just me that's noticed then mate.

Never a truer word. Its going to be a unique season in my opinion. Nothing much to choose between squads (salary cap at last taking effect) and it will come down to how each coach manages his squad. I think Harris has given the youth a chance because he knows that if injuries bite he will have to throw them in (probably earlier than expected) FWIW I think your average attendance will be slightly up on last season and so will your finishing position and that's the way to build year on year. (no boom and bust) I think Cas average attendance will also be slightly up but we will struggle to achieve 4th spot again.
So many games this season will be 1 or 2 point affairs and the refs will be under more pressure than ever. good luck.

Looking at the weather for this weekend it looks very grim. This is the risk we took only playing the youngsters at the weekend. Just hope our players aren't under cooked going into the first game of the year!

Hoping we play a mixture of youth and 1st 13

With full 13 next weekend, would like another look at Forster and the youngster on the wing