i'm surprised that some wigan fans have picked either a first or 2nd place finish,
i would have thought thats it's clearly far easier to win the grand final from 5th than it is from 2nd


That will not happen again for a very long time

1- warrington
2- saints
3- rhinos
4- wigan
5- giants
6- catalan
7- hull kr
8- hull fc
9- castleford
10- bradford
11- salford
12- wakefield
13- broncos
14- widnes

1. Warrington
2. Leeds
3. St Helens
4. Wigan
5. Hull FC
6. Catalans
7. Huddersfield
8. Hull Kr
9. Salford
10. Castleford
11. Bradford
12. Wakefield
13. Widnes
14. London

Can't really see us finishing any higher than 4th to be honest, i hope i'm wrong but i think we will struggle this year to maintain the standards we have set over the past 2 years..

I would say you are weaker. Ratchford can't compare to King, you will miss King towering down one side. Plus the problem lies with Warrington's squad age. Briers, Morley, Carvell, Monaghan, Solomona, Hodgson are all within a season or two of retirement. An ageing squad is never a good sign, last year you ran out of steam I would be worried about the same happening this year. However I do still think you will still be there or there abouts because you have a very good side.

I don't think Ratchford is a replacement for King. King will be missed but we have a lot of great centres and wingers (Bridge, Evans, Atkins etc) Wire have improved with the Waterhouse for Anderson move and the Hill aquisition and Clarke departure is an obvious bonus.

The age thing is a nonstarter. You can't tell the future and so it isn't worth debating 'a season ro two''s time. This season is being discussed.

And finally, are you sure you arne't mistaking warrington for Wigan? LAst year Wigan well and truly ran out of steam. The saints playoff games being a personal highlight. Warrington underestimated a side and lost a must win game. Wigan stumbled through three of them.

1. St Helens
2. Wire
3. Wigan (not sure on the signings yet so dont want to be too optimistic but we shall see you never know in RL)
4. Catalans
5. Leeds
6. Huddersfield
7. Hull FC
8. Hull Kr
9. Bradford
10. Castleford
11. Widnes
12. Salford
13. London
14. Wakefield

1. Saints
2. Wire
3. Wigan
4. Leeds
5. Hudds
6. Bradford
7. Hull
8. Catalan
9. Hull kr
10. Cas
11. Salford
12. Wakey
13. London
14. Widnes

GF- Saints
CC- Leeds

Sadly the SL is like that every year.....theres essentially 4 mini leagues going on with big gaps in quality between each.

The Contenders / The Outsiders who on their day can beat those in the top group but are generally well behind / The mid table battle for the mediocracy of a 7th/8th play off place only to face an inevitable hammering in week one / and finally the battle to avoid the wodern spoon.

Its why our competion will never match the intensity of the NRL

Predictionwise Id say as follows;

Wire

(
Saints


Wigan
Catalans
Leeds
Hull
Huddersfield
Bradford
-------------
London
Hull KR
Castleford
Salford
Wakefield
Widnes

Wire will walk the league this year unfortunately- us and saints are both far weaker but I think saints just edge us with alot of youngsters a yard or two ahead of us currently. wire saints and us are still a way ahead of the rest of the pack and cant see any of the chasers breaking into the top 3.

Motor mouth SCHOEY says we will only finish fouth.
Warrington
St Helens
Leeds
Wigan
Catalans
Huddersfield
Hull KR
Hull
Salford
Castleford
Bradford
Lon Broncos
Wakefield
Widnes
Could he be right as I think our forwards will struggle

Wigan
Saints
Dire
Leeds
Catalans
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR
Bradford
Widnes
Cas
London
Wakey
Salford

saints
wire
wigan
cats
leeds
hull
hudds
london
hull kr
brad
widnes
cas
salford
wakey


Going to back Widnes on the handicap coupon.

we also have alot of youth starting to come through they are all replacable except the biggest losses will be briers and moz.

now we have a few good young halfbacks in myler, ratchford, o'brien but whether any of them will have the cheeky edge and the rugby brain briers has is yet to be seen.

Moz is harder they dont make forwards in the same aggressive mould anymore but again we have plenty of young props coming through.

Kingy will be a massive loss however we can be comforted with the fact that we have joel monaghan on one wing (some of his finishing is out of this world) and good in the air. on the other wing we have a few we have riley he got a bit disillusioned last year but came back with a bang at the end and was highest scorer 2010 season, we also have Rhys Evans he is a very promising youngster quick with good feet prepare to see alot of him this season my tip for a star of the future and we also have rhys williams so we have cover in those spots.

the only position i see us as being understrength is hooker we have monaghan who is an outstanding hooker but his replacement is one trick mick (higham) and nothing else we get an injury at hooker its not going to be pretty!

I think Wigan are stronger in some departments this year, plenty more forwards, a fitter Finch & Richards, a maturing Tomkins, no Joel playing out of position at centre but an outright selection headache of centres, an aspiring fullback in Russell, another Tomkins who adds to the depth in hooker. It's quite promising.... Just need some luck and maybe a big name signature boost in the replacement of Tommy at the half way stage of the season. Shame about the magic weekend fixture against the stains but the RFL always like to annoy us..remember last years challenge cup run in?

1. Wire
2. Saints
3. Wigan
4. Leeds
5. Hull
6. Catalan
7. Huddersfield
8. Hull KR
9. Widnes
10. Bradford
11. Cas
12. London
13. Wakey
14. Salford