After watching Thursday and Fridays games on sky and seeing the results today I am a little more upbeat.

Wigan and Castleford are head & shoulders above every team in the league presently and I cant see that changing. I think Hull will finish 3rd and I think that 4th spot could be anybody's really as I believe Saints and Wire will struggle compared to previous years even when Hill & Smith etc are back.

I cant see us beating Wigan no matter what they could have their u19s academy out next week and still beat our first team but with 8 first teamers injured we should really be going there for 2 points. If we can somehow get 2+ points from the next 2 games against Wigan and Leeds we are right back in the mix (providing we win against Leeds).

However, many Saints fans feel they are in a similar position to us but thats not the case as far as I am concerned because they are atleast competing in games and have only conceded 68 points to our 140 conceded (us playing 1 more game). Our last 2 games we have not competed whether that be because of attack or defence.

All in all I dont think we should be pancaking too much just yet but one thing I will say is IF we do lose our next 3 games we will definitely finish bottom 4.

Every game now against Wakefield, Leigh, Warrington, Saints, Catalans & Leeds are ALL massive games as all clubs have a legitimate chance of that 4th spot and making the 8 providing we can win a more of these games than we lose.

If you are going to finish in the top 8 you at least want to have a chance to finish 4th in order to get in the playoffs.

Widnes will definitely finish in the bottom 4.

All that been said.... anything COULD happen, but after seeing all teams play over first 4-5 rounds I do think we are a poor team and I am now supporting the team with the mentality of we will lose double the amount of games that we will win and expecting us to finish in the bottom 4 so anything more will be a bonus for me this year from this point on and will cherish any wins we do get



Rather than going into games believing we will win like 2 years ago and been disappointed and frustrated when we lose.

we where a coat of paint from the million pound game we sign 1 aus with 1 leg 1 aus not fit a 5 from a team that finished 5th in the division below didnt expect much this year. we have not played any so called top team yet and we only have 4 points . i think cass and wigan are way a head but we are miles behind the likes of hull warrington catlans ect if we get everyone fit we might get into the 8 if brough gets injured we could be in very big trouble.

Brough is already injured.....Perhaps if he actually doesn't play we might get a half back PAIR, rather than a halfback.

Pretty much agree, and yes we are currently a poor team, but in a league full of poor teams with the exception of two.
IF we can start performing anywhere near our potential I think we can pick enough points up and be fine, but if we maintain the current standard we will be bottom four.
Hoping we grow as the season goes on and Rick Stone gets them up to speed sooner rather than later...

jools wish we had 2 more tested hb but we dont i said before the season started we where to thin in that department like it or not everything we do comes through brough . Gaskill ,brialey and the young lad are not proven in super league and would be a major gamble given we have very little in our attacking locker

Gaskell IS tested at SL level- and needs to be earning his big wage! I always feel that brough stifles any other half we have. Perhaps a combo of Gaskell and brierley may prove a good partnership!

Some sense talked above. Our problem is a complete lack of direction at board level and where do we go next what is the future we are so grateful for Kens input but if that is pulled we have problems we have gone through for us a golden era and we are now in rebuild I think there has to be some patience with Stone

This fellow Brough you want to drop, is he the same Brough who created a piece of magical play against Wakefield, which culminated in Jerry`s try, which is a contender for try of the month?

It won try of the month, and by some distance !

Agree with that. If all our players had the same attitude as Broughy, we would win all our games. And he does a fair stint in defense, unlike the rest of the wet paper bags.

I don't think Brough's attitude is better than everyone else's. At best it's on par with everyone else's. We certainly wouldn't of won more games.. our attitude isn't the problem.
Our structure, game plan, playing with injured players and team selection is the base of the problems in my opinion.

Nothing much has changed from last season apart from our fitness looks better.
We've replaced the likes of Grix, Wood, Ellis, Huby and Johnson with 2 unproven aussies (one injured) and Bradford players who couldn't get them into the middle 8's.
Not saying these players aren't good enough. It's Stone's job to get the best out of them.
We aren't realistically going to get top 8. We need to work extremely hard to do it.
Our rivals, are playing better than us currently.

that magic from brough for the wakefield try was just that... but that aside he was awful in that game and pretty much the other games too.

we need to win 8 more game i feel to make the top 8 will give us 20 points.

need to target the leeds game at home next, big one, win that and it could lift the gloom abit

as for castleford, its early days, i remember widnes storming at the top last season early door till the injuries set in.....

At the beginning of the Wakefield game I saw some of the best structured attacking plays the Giants have produced in a long while. Sadly this is all too often missing and I suspect that the issue we have is someone who can call the right plays. Brough is great at what he does and always puts 100% effort in but I'm not sure he can drive a team around the pitch. Brough is too important to leave out so it's up to the coaching staff to develop someone who can call the right plays during a game.

Problem is jools he was tested and found wanting, that's why he finished in the Championship. That said something needs to change, we can't be any worse than we are at the moment. Everybody knows we are going to struggle to survive,Rick Stone has said it will take two years, so get on with it man, try some stuff out, It's when you are not expecting to do anything that you experiment, When you are going well you don't need to.

gaskell signed for the bulls when they were a super league team, same time as ferguson, carvell and luke george.... none knew what financial problems they were to face

Fair enough, and to be fair to him I think most Bulls fans rated him, The main problem seemed to be staying on the field.

Realistic view? Middle 8's. KR to go up automatically. A shoot out between Widnes and Huddersfield at Widnes. Brough will kick a drop goal to win it in sudden death extra time!

is brough the new grix got to laugh at some people. Think Hinchcliffe should get this tag.

With Lawrence out for a while we would be lost without Hinchcliffe. Think people don't really get the kind of player he is. At storm he was used to being part of a very structured side. He played his part in that side to perfection. He wasn't a creator or an enforcer. He helped win storm the ruck defensively Whilst the likes of cam smith could do so in attack. Solid dependable clubman is how the storm supporters labelled him when asked.

Surprisingly we are above Saints,Warry and Widnes

nice runs from hinchcliffe across the line

no one on the same page ! running onto the ball

For whatever reason our game is mainly head down and plough in, till it's time for Brough to kick, Exactly like under PA, that's what i have been hoping will change

I would love to put forward my idea of a realistic view but i know for a fact it won't toe the line for this forum so rather than getting bullied by the usual suspects i will refrain.

Nah, go for it Daz. You're one of the more balanced posters on here, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts for one.

................so you PM him Daz -and I wont bully yer!