I can't say many if any of our wins were lucky.

Warrington are spending to do better but no one else looks particularly better than last year or will be recovering from an injury crisis.

And as long as we are competitive I'm still ok with 8th.

Smell the coffee Pops he's a total troll and he's not even hiding it.

For me the squad looks solid and well balanced, Short term injuries can be covered in most positions.

Aye yer right there pal so why keep feeding him, smell the coffee

Still bitter are we?

I actually dont think BOJ042 was trolling with that comment, it makes sense to think about..

I don`t think he`saying that any of the our wins were lucky but as a whole we probably benefited a little bit, in terms of our positioning in the league from a very poor wire and Wigan side, that`s not taking anything away from us.

At the end of the day previous seasons mean nothing when it comes down to a singular season - We were 5th on merit as we were a better team than the teams beneath us throughout the season.

I cant imagine Wire and Wigan, and to an extent Saints (Earlier in the season) been anyway near as poor as last season and therefore should in theory be right up there in the mix (Hopefully with us there again!) - I think its all about managing expectations, we have added some real quality to an already quality squad and hopefully we can continue to push up the top of the table but i would be happy with a settled place in that super 8`s for next season.

If I remember rightly, the stewards had only opened one door for Wakefield fans to get in claiming "we didn't think you'd bring many". We didn't get in and sat down until about 10 minutes into the game!

I still think Ben Jeffries should have dived under the sticks and celebrated rather than sheepishly turning round and placing the ball down, then looking at the ref thinking there may have been some some doubt.

SL 2018 will again be very competitive. I think I am correct in saying that over the last two seasons we have seen full cap spending teams in the bottom four - Leeds, Huddersfield, Catalans and Warrington. All teams need luck on the injury front, Widnes and Wigan had bad luck last season whilst Cas stayed relatively injury free. I think we look better than ever to be able to cover for injury or loss of form. I thought we played great last season with very very few poor performances. The League is now so competitive that predictions are not easy, the professional pundits will and correctly so have Wigan, Leeds, Saints, Warrington, Hull, Cas in the top 6 and its tough to argue against that, the same pundits will have Hull Kr and Widnes in the bottom four, I suspect they will also include Salford in the bottom four. That leaves Catalans, Huddersfield and Wakey. I suspect that the pundits will continue their love in with Huddersfield and suggest that they will finish 7th. I think that they will have to give us the respect we earned over the last two seasons and that they will put us in 8th and add Catalans to bottom four. For me I just think that the top 6 may not be, once again as nailed on as many think. Looks like another great season for SL

Yes he was, he's a Cas fan trolling for heavens sake.

Of course the top 6 is not nailed on - frankly it's not really nailed on for anyone.

I do'nt get your top 6 at all. Hull look good, you have to back Leeds as Champions and you probably have to assume Cas will carry on the good work.

Wigan - why? They are a distictly average outfit IMO.

Saints - even more of a why? Flattered to decieve in a huge way last season - some talent but by no means a certainty.

Warrington - utterly bizzare, in what way can they have suddenly elavated themselves to top 6 certainties after last season -seriously.

The top three looks fairly predictable to me as far as it goes but the next three no way.

Vasty maybe I was not clear , I am suggesting that this is what the professional pundits will predict.

I think the point made by Wildcat 26, is a well balanced viewpoint.

I dont think anyone can really predict who is going to finish where, at this stage, not until all clubs have finalised their squads.

What I will say, is that with Warrington signing the likes of Tyrone Roberts, and targeting Kurt Baptiste too, they have made a statement of intent.

I do feel that the increase in salary cap, though needed for the sport as a whole, could make it harder for us, meaning we will need to punch above our weight, even more so, as probably most other clubs will be in a better position than us to spend the full cap.

I think on the teams that were in the top 8 this year, I feel the two most at risk of dropping out would be Salford and Huddersfield, and I think Hull KR will probably be a bigger test to the competition than what Leigh were.



To me consolidating around where we finished last year, would be a good, and realistic target I feel

Still though, too early to make firm predictitons.

I get it but I don't rate any of them.

It's actually imo the most level SL ever. Can't see an absolute stand out and don't really see a weak team.

If I had to I'd say Widnes look poor and HKR a bit light but not by much.

Could be anybodies season either way imho.

Salford will be the other club potentially on the slide.
Without Koucash to bank roll them, they could be in serious strife quite quickly.
They pay a fortune in rent, have pitiful crowds and although they had a decent season, the omens dont look too clever.

For Trinity, if we can compete and avoid long term injuries to our key players, we should definitely be looking at another top 8 finish and if we get to the half way point in decent shape, maybe we can push for the top 4

Yes that's exactly what happened
The traffic was murder on the m62 and we only made it to Wigan 5 mins before kick off
We were stuck outside and couldn't get in

Winds me up even now thinking about it

Had it not being for a brilliant Andy Farrell we would have won that match

I feel the same re pushing on

Your point about injuries is correct
Mid season we had a stint without Miller and fifita where we lost a couple of games by a very close margin

I'd like to think if Dave is injured Pauli would be able to give it that bit of X factor we were missing last season where we just missed out, that would apply wether Dave is playing or not in fairness

Hopefully we'll bring another half to replace williams too

We couldn't be in better shape and have fantastic cover in pretty much every position now

Do Salford even have a new owner yet? Didn't the doctor want some money back

Sts will up at the top this year.
They struggled with Cunninham but once they changed they looked good and once Barba started playing they looked good.

Yes Wire have made a few good signings with Robers, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Bryson Goodwin but atm they only have about 24 players in the team signed up, so we'll see who else they bring in. Plus they've had a huge turnover in players, like we've experienced in the past, so it's whether their new Coach can get them to gel as a side quick enough etc and also how much difference the coach they've brought in will make.

Like you sayI'd be very happy to be near the end of the season fighting it out for a Top 4 again and then if you make the 4 who knows.

It'll be an interesting year, for certain.

The Grand Final might have knocked a bit of stuffing out of Cas, taken away some of their strut. Saints showed signs of improvement under Holbrook and had they had a kicker would have been in the Grand Final. A full pre-season might improve them, albeit they will have lost that "new coach" bounce.

Hull will try hard but not quite do it, as always.

Us? Good squad, as good as any we have had in Super League and playing good rugby. We are capable of going further than this year, but other results might keep us nearer 8th than 4th if it's a tight league.

The really good thing is that things are less predictable that in the past... on paper we look stronger... it's up to the staff and players to make sure that we are competitive in every game... should be a fun season!

you can not even gauge how the season may end up after the first 6/7 games. Last season was the strangest I can remember
I honestly think the bigger clubs have decided not to spend and take the gamble on success , after all only one trophy of any note up for grabs. Could any one predict that Leeds would be champions after the disastrous season they had only the season before.
Wakefield have nothing and no team to fear and the only pressure they will be under will be self educed.

If we don't believe our own hype and start to think we are Mr Big potatoes but rather put the same team effort in as last year we will reach top eight with a fair chance of top six.

All teams need a little luck but now unlike previous seasons we don't need it any more than anyone else.

The players attitudes rather than size, skill or speed will decide where we finish.

Some of our wins last season were sensational, the play was at times exceptional and certainly our best in many a year. When you consider Tom Johnstone will be back and a couple of really good signings already added, you have to say we have a really good chance of at least repeating last years 5th despite what other teams expectations are. The competition is more even these days and results are really hard to predict so who knows who will finish where? What I do know is we will fear nobody and give everyone a game home and away and with a bit of luck make that elusive top 4, it's about blinking time!!

QFT

Saints will be top 4


Ere, do we get any rule changes or reffing guidance this season