Nah, they're poop, it's just that everyone else is poopier

Speaking of which,what happened about the WCC in the end? Just fizzled out? I fear for the future of the fixture, the Aussies really don't give a damn about any of it.

shock/horror Stains fan (magic superbeetle) instills us with how great they and arguably they should have won the 2018 grand final as arguably Morgan Knowles is the best player in super league apart from Walmsley or is it another Stains player.

I honestly think Wigan will have a great season and will be up there to win a cup or 2.

Sounds like they were well up for it but our friends from over the hill bottled it.

Definitely - Penrith and their leaders are the epitome of open mindedness on international RL competition . . . . . .

As a Hull fan I have both dread and optimism.
Our halfbacks are great, on paper , but as we all know they have both appalling injury records, and age does nothing to assist that , at their stages in their career's. If they stay fit, with the addition of Evans, we should do better than last year. A big blow is Scott Taylor's recent foot injury, which is a 12 week rehab apparently. He has played injured and unfit as a result, for 2 seasons and many fans felt it was time for him to go, but he has trimmed down to a match style physique and would be a great rotation prop, if fit. So we have injuries already but our new Fijian hooker will be a revelation, if training and the odd You tube clip is anything to go by. Satae and Sao are as good as most props in SL, Jake Connor is a real talent, but can he shine when the inevitable injuries bite our 6 and 7?
Could be our year, but my gut feeling is that Leeds, Saints and Cats will be top dogs, with Wire, Wigan, HKR and Hull fighting for 4th.
Just hope Covid doesn't disrupt things too badly and all players, officials and us fans stay safe and healthy.

A lot depends on whether French comes back and is fit and if Field turns out to be a good player. Otherwise we are in the same boat as last season with all our attack going through one player, Cust instead of Hastings. TL is past it and Powell isn't good enough on attack which is why French and/or Field are important. The coaching team can play a part here and if it's obvious there are issues with these two I'd expect them to act rather than make them automatic selections. Same goes across the park really. I am hoping to see some assertive coaching dealing with any issues rather than trying the same thing over and over if it's not working. If the coaches do that we are already in a better position than last season.

I don't think Cust will try to be drummer, lead violinist, trumpeter and conductor. Hopefully that will allow other players to do their jobs particularly not having any of the kickers caught on the 4th tackle.

I don’t think our problems were solely focused around Hastings trying to do everything tbh. I think it played a part for sure but when you’re playing a junior pack against grown men each week you’re in trouble. We were totally unorganised in attack, we had nobody willing (or being instructed) to do any running off the ball, so dummy runners and support play became redundant. The players generally looked totally at a loss regards what Lam wanted from them.

There’s plenty to work on but I’m confident a lot of quick fixes will have been implemented in the off season and even if we started with Hanley at fullback, Cust and Tommy in the halves and Powell at 9, I still think we’ll see a real upturn on anything we saw last season.

From a solely attacking POV, I don’t think I’ve seen a team have a worse season pound for pound than ours last season. Even teams who have gone through seasons winning hardly any games have averaged more points per game than we did.

Things can only get better.

For me the return of French is massive, if he can come back and be close to his form of 2 seasons ago we’ve got a chance to compete, imo our starting 13 still looks a hell of a lot weaker than both Saints and Catalans and also weaker than Warrington and Leeds, what we do have is the strongest depth though. I’ll be fairly happy if we make the top 4 and play some attractive rugby.

I think Wire look weak in the forwards which will cost them the chance of being a genune threat for trophies. I reckon Wigan have a decent chance of finishing above them.

I think the the likelihood is we will be scrapping it out for a top 5 spot.

That on paper maybe doesn't look like an acceptable return however I think we are in transition this year and the improvement should be judged by on field performance not just league position.

Saints, Catalans, Wire, and Leeds I think will all be scrapping it out with us and I expect a much lower spread of points between 1st and 5th spots than in other years.

I hope so - its been a while since a few teams have been competing for top spot.

Re French I think we have to view him as a potential wildcard that could strengthen us mid season - obviously we can't be certain if he will come back at all but if he does (in a month to 6 weeks for example) then he should have his own mini pre-season upon arrival. We can't rush him back like last time - that would be neither ethical or logical. A fully ready Bevan French in June will help us far more than a half ready French in March or April.

Absolutely correct and it’s where I’m hoping Field can really step in and show us what he can do. If he gets a run at fullback for us and really lights the place up, we’ll be in such a fantastic position. The club won’t feel pressed in to any rushing back of French (I mean rushing him from the point of being back over here, I’m sure they won’t rush his arrival in the first instance) and as and when he is back you could have massive competition and two players with sheer pace that could play together.

There can be no repeat of last seasons mistakes. We rushed Field back in because French wasn’t here and he wasn’t ready after a back problem in pre season and then we rushed French back because of that Field injury and the result was season ending injuries for both.

Unlike Lam, I expect Peet will trust the likes of Hanley/Halsall to do a job in their correct positions rather than rush players back.

I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
Looking forward to being on the front foot more with more tries and conversions together with better field kicking.

I’ve been impressed with how Matty goes on about culture, environment and performance, just hope this translates on the pitch resulting in better entertainment and improved performance.

Finally I really hope the concourse beer improves, last season offer was totally rank, with no cask or decent lager on. The small bar under the west was a revelation once, but last year it was the same dross as the other bars.

To get my season tickets before the season actually starts

Excellent point, the click is ticking, anyone idea when the ST’s will be received?

With the relaxing of restrictions even further now there is no reason not to issue cards for the season as opposed to virtual tickets, away game tickets are being sold now, just need to get the home ones sorted.

Not to bothered which season ticket method is used as long as the information is communicated out in good time.

I believe Liverpool FC use NFC (near field communication) technology for stadium entry and all tickets are digital on a smartphone, in the form of an NFC pass. I wonder if our esteemed landlord has introduced something similar?

Latics have season tickets card

I asked over the phone when i bought mine, we will be getting physical cards this season through the post.

The club also updated in an article a couple of days ago saying the cards will be posted out imminently, so any day now i would imagine.

Well it worked, pre season at Wire 7 hours trip, last night at Hull bit easier as only 6 1/2 hours, would have been less if we didn't turn onto the closed A63 route initially, cost us half an hour. Booked for Friday as well, means a mad dash after work on Friday as it's a 100 mile trip, but the rugby being played is worth it. Nice to have some enthusiasm and excitement for the game again. Last night was the best atmosphere at a game in many years for me.

Its an 8 o clock kick off give you more time to get here.

Yep, it's 75 miles from home to Wigan, an hour from work to home on a friday, and the journey across the Peak District to Wigan is the worst I can think of, but we shall be there somehow! If I go straight from work in Nottingham it's 100 miles, but an easier journey. Hull is all Motorway so dead easy ( so long as the roads are open).

For the first time in years it seems like the effort is worth it for what's on display.

Have a good Challenge Cup run and win it.