Are we better equipped to deal with the middle 8 this time round, and why

Yes we are. Unfortunately, the worst SL side is also better equipped than Wakefield were last year.

Much better side and packed with experience we lacked last year especially at half back. Moimoi Acton Weston Hopkins hock are as good as most SL teams, Maitua Hansen whiting and Patterson form a great back row also.
Opposition don't know how we will play this year, and there is far less expectation on lads who want to be in SL next year.

I think we should aim at Salford and HKR as the beatable SL teams, but there is no reason we won't contest the MPG.

We should aim to win every game. Who knows ,we might avoid the mpg and get auto promo.

Better, bigger, tougher forwards, half back pairing more 'solid', although three quarters still perhaps not fully functional. I'd say we are better all round, than last season.

Whilst the SL bottom four are perhaps not as weak as last season, they ARE bottom four for a reason - and I don't think that reason is because of an all-round improvement in SL.

Better equipped, better players and i technically the bottom may well have less points than in the 2015 season. Its only the names people are worried about not the points on the table.

At this moment in time Huddersfield without a coach are the most vulnerable team in the bottom 4, madness that they sacked their coach and assistant!!

How can Purtill have been sacked if he is on 'gardening leave'?

Some may argue D, that its the same thing...........

Probably not sacked, but put on gardening leave till his contract is up.

I feel we are individually better equipped, although I worry if plan A isn't working do have plan B, The SO & SH IMO will offer better options this time round as they are a little more varied in the rugby experience

Sorry my point was it was announced he had been sacked along with Anderson. But as soon as they got wind he may join Leigh early the term 'gardening leave ' appeared

We are better equipped and the rotation of the players should mean that they are in better shape in the middle 8's especially if we are able to secure top spot before the end of the regular season and rest one or two.

As has already been said we have a pack who can pressurise defences and a far better kicking game which has meant us getting repeat sets - something we rarely saw last year.

No SL team is as weak as Wakefield last year - but then again we were leading Hull KR 26-6 at half time last year and lost the game by a point.

We should play the matches with nothing to fear.

I hope he is tending to the lawn at the LSV.

After destroying the Broncos last weekend, we should fear no-one. Exceptional performance... simply brilliant rugby. I questioned Jukes leadership at the next level but am now in no doubt he is the man for the job with the team behind him. Looking forward to the Bradford game.

I think we are a much tougher team to play this year from a SL team point of view.
We have two true halfbacks on the field (be it Drinkwater, Riddy, Burns or Reynolds) who are all up to the challenge and have decent kicking games.
We have a fresher Mickey Higham who is still at his game changing best. He is also likely to stay fresher with Hood going well and able to spell in in every game.
We have a strong and experienced pack that have the quality and depth of numbers pto keep a strong forward group on the field for 80 mins.
We have an improving back line that is looking stronger now Worthington is back. Armstrong is looking fitter and faster again, AJ is now looking as good as I ever seen him (Liam Kay is still a little below his best but I have faith he will keep edging towards last seasons form)
At fullback we have a guy who just might be good enough to keep McNally on the bench (though what an option to have on the bench if he's fit, as he has the pace and ability to play several positions very well).
Lastly I think we have a coach who has had the balls and the ability to deal with adversity all season and still stamp his style on the team. That style I believe has been focused on not just getting us into the 8's but making us a team drilled for playoff rugby against Super League teams (and top flight Champ teams). He has changed that "attack from anywhere DNA" that we heard so much about last season, that served us so well in the regular season but that killed us in the 8's.
Will we make the MPG or outright promotion, time will tell, but I do think we are better suited to the challenge this year.

If you don't make it, I don't think the concept will last much longer. There is unlikely to be a Championship team as capable as yours again, but there is unlikely to be a bottom four as capable again, with Leeds, Huddersfield and a Salford who have won more games than their points tally. From 5th to 8th in the Super League, it will soon become a waste of time. They might as well blood kids, because none of them can make it to fourth in reality.

Every minute matters? Up until late June. After that, not really.

I understand your point but, if we revert to the previous set up, 5th - =#FF000012th in Sooper Dooper league won't matter, and neither will 1st - 12th in the Championship. That will surely give even more meaningless games?

None of them can make it to fourth in reality soley because of poor perfomances in the regular season.Or should we revert back to a sixth place team winning the GF.

The system is perfomance based,you have to perform.The same last season 5th to 8th all breathing a sigh of relief as they're not in the middle 8's,then complaining becuase they have dead rubber games.What do points make?

How can people say the system is useless. The league doesn'the finish like this every year. This year it has but look back through the league tables over the years.

I liked the old top six set-up and one-up, one-down relegation. Made it twitchy at the bottom. The play-offs rewarded in some way a high finish, and provided a Championship climax with a grand final. Going down is tolerable if there is a fair punt at coming back up again at some point.

12 months on ?Never , more like a year.

I would go further than that Slugger & say that only the top 4 play off, 2 semis & a final, the top 8 makes a mockery of finishing top *regular rounds* & makes League Leaders a poor relation to being the best team throughout the season.

Going even further Top of Championship gains straight promotion, bottom SL team relegated with a play off between 11th SL & 2nd Championship for P&R.

This way the number of games played in SL season can be reduced & maybe an extra International fixture or two played.

Don't know who you support Slugger ......


But [ihow dare you[/i come onto this forum [imaking some sense[/i.

The players have the taent an the experience. The issue is "how much do they want it?"