What has changed, you were full time last year and you still have Walker and Gaskell, also you say you have a much stronger squad than last season, by that do you mean a larger one because although you will know your recruitment better than me, it looks like you have lost better players' than you have brought in.

As underlined by your own admission, you are concentrating on the championship which won't be a walk in the park, be assured if you do manage to get in the play off's against the four SL teams' I'm sure you'll agree it will be even harder assuming you reach the play off's.

A happy new year to you and your fans' and good luck for the coming season.

For me it's about the intensity of the games/competition, Bradford as a 'big' club are expected to excel in the Champoinship but if the going gets too easy, that's when problems start.
Lowes has proved he can motivate his players in the right way but if you are turning teams over on a regular basis, complacency could become and issue.
Then it's full on for 7 games, which could become harder than expected if standards are not kept up?

Exactly, like it or not SL will be a huge step up from Championship Rugby, even against the likes of Wakefield. The intensity, speed, thinking time, defensive reactions, size and power will all be 2 levels up on any Championship game hence my comment about being 'undercooked'

The Championship Clubs will see who the weakest Super League Team is, going into the middle 8, and only have to target that game. If all 4 Championship Clubs treat their game against this club like a cup tie then the million pound game could well involve 2 Championship clubs.

We have far more depth than last year but have lost some quality (Kearney etc). The depth should help since we have 7 props now whereas last year we were down to 2. A small squad can be a killer. Trinity fans should hope you don't have too much bad luck with injuries, especially to your quality players.

Whatever happens those middle 8 games will be nail biting stuff at times.

Just as a matter of interest, if the two bottom SL clubs get three home games and four away and the top two championship games get the reverse, who or what determines the fixture list for the middle eight, for example if everybody's favourites finishes bottom, who decides which three clubs we play at home???

Is all pre-determined and is on a grid set out by the RFL.

They're here www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/rlnewera

They're here www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/rlnewera

I thought it was quite simple until I read that!

Considering we should on paper have hammered Bradford twice last year and lost both games, one heavily, I don't think we should be taking them for granted at all.
We should be better prepared but there is a risk that has to be considered.

I can't say I'm ever confident of a Trinity victory when they are purportedly the favourites. Unfortunately experience has taught me that's when they serve up their worst performances.

Quote ="The Avenger"They're here www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/rlnewera'" Quote ="Bullseye"I thought it was quite simple till I read that'" I wished I hadn't asked myself, Think I'll wait till the end of round 23 it must be simpler. Thanks anyway.

Quote ="The Avenger"They're here www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/rlnewera'" Quote ="Bullseye"I thought it was quite simple till I read that'" I wished I hadn't asked myself, Think I'll wait till the end of round 23 it must be simpler. Thanks anyway.

Nice and clear that then i don't think! So lets say hypothetically we finish in the bottom four with the two Hull clubs and Widnes and the championship top four in order is Bradford, Leigh, London and Fev. I think it would work like this...

If the bottom of Superleague finished..
Hull
Hull KR
Wakefield
Widnes

Then our fixtures would be

Home - Widnes, London, Hull KR
Away - Hull, Bradford, Leigh, Fev

But if us and Hull KR were to swap places it would be..

Home - Bradford, Leigh, Widnes, London
Away - Hull, Hull KR, Fev

All guesswork as to where clubs may or may not finish obviously but shows the importance of not resting players purely focused on the super eights. Finishing 9th or 10th could make our job a whole lot easier by not having to travel to the fulltime championship clubs home grounds.

Good explanation Theboyem

So if we finished 10th we would get an extra home game and it would cost season ticket holders no more, but if we finished 11th or below we would get an extra away game and have to pay for it!! Doesn't really reward loyal fans dies it?

Edited for personal preference

Quote ="MOPSEY LIVES ON"my main concern is fitness again if your not the most talented then work twice as hard as anyone else in training.'" There may be something in the issue with our training methods which according to Shaun Wane are not as intensive as at Wigan. We need to be the one of the fittest teams in the league to get more out of our players. “......whenever we have played Wakefield I have admired Taulima and he has always troubled us. He is a big, athletic guy and will fit in with us perfectly. “They way we train has been a bit of a shock for him and Larne, because it is quite intense and different to what they have been used to. But they have both relished it and are already giving us so much more. www.totalrl.com/2015-preview-wigan-warriors/?

Quote ="MOPSEY LIVES ON"my main concern is fitness again if your not the most talented then work twice as hard as anyone else in training.'" There may be something in the issue with our training methods which according to Shaun Wane are not as intensive as at Wigan. We need to be the one of the fittest teams in the league to get more out of our players. “......whenever we have played Wakefield I have admired Taulima and he has always troubled us. He is a big, athletic guy and will fit in with us perfectly. “They way we train has been a bit of a shock for him and Larne, because it is quite intense and different to what they have been used to. But they have both relished it and are already giving us so much more. www.totalrl.com/2015-preview-wigan-warriors/?

Quote ="asmadasa"There may be something in the issue with our training methods which according to Shaun Wane are not as intensive as at Wigan. We need to be the one of the fittest teams in the league to get more out of our players. “......whenever we have played Wakefield I have admired Taulima and he has always troubled us. He is a big, athletic guy and will fit in with us perfectly. “They way we train has been a bit of a shock for him and Larne, because it is quite intense and different to what they have been used to. But they have both relished it and are already giving us so much more. www.totalrl.com/2015-preview-wigan-warriors/?'" The shock and intestity may be more related to Wane's requirement of thuggery and intimidation as seen in the Grand Final.

Quote ="asmadasa"There may be something in the issue with our training methods which according to Shaun Wane are not as intensive as at Wigan. We need to be the one of the fittest teams in the league to get more out of our players. “......whenever we have played Wakefield I have admired Taulima and he has always troubled us. He is a big, athletic guy and will fit in with us perfectly. “They way we train has been a bit of a shock for him and Larne, because it is quite intense and different to what they have been used to. But they have both relished it and are already giving us so much more. www.totalrl.com/2015-preview-wigan-warriors/?'" The shock and intestity may be more related to Wane's requirement of thuggery and intimidation as seen in the Grand Final.

We clearly aren't as fit as the other teams in the league as evidenced by the fact that last season quite often a number of players are blowing out of their arris after 15 mins.

This issue is the responsibility of the conditioner and it is my opinion that our current conditioners methods haven't moved on with the developments in the field and hence our players are not getting the right advice and programmes.

If the conditioning issues are not addressed then in my opinion, we will continue to struggle to compete for 80 mins and be soft defensively, meaning a number of large losses.

My observation of our conditioning from what I've seen on training days, during games and the injury list is that it's more reliant on weights and strength than actual physical fitness.

I recall a few years back the fitness of the side was criticised for being heavily cardiovascular based and not enough emphasis was based on strength meaning teams powered through the defence due to shear size. As ever their needs to be a happy medium.

Out of interest what's Geoff Evans upto these days?

When he was the conditioner it's the fittest I've seen the team in the SL era. The long run of home wins in the second half of the season was down to us blowing teams away in the final quarter.

Obviously not still at Shudds because Wane says Lard Patrick is struggling too.

Looking at the other squads, which SL teams do you think you'd beat in a play off situation?

We've proved already, with this squad, that we're capable of beating anyone on the day.

Next season the difference between us and Bradford for example, is that we'll be competing in the higher intensity of SL on a weekly basis.