How do think we will go this season?
Personally I think we might do as well in league position, but no silverware.

I am not all that confident with our bench.
We need Bowden, Green and Hadley to really up their game this year. I don’t think that Ellis and Mini will be able to give the same impact we have been blessed with so far.

First priority is Top 8. Aim for Top 4 and in an ideal world hit the business end on an upward trajectory. Wembley again would be great but frankly I'm a bit concerned that nothing will ever eclipse 27th August 2016. I know winning SL is seen by most as the ultimate but after last year's cup win in it's hard to imagine more profound joy. Dave Woods commentary "History is made in the most dramatic of circumstances. The new Wembley has its classic final. They HAVE won at Wembley" will remain spine-tingling until my dying day. After that, anything more is a bonus.

We have the potential to step on. Apart from Ellis and Mini the squad has a strong core of players in mid 20s - Shaul, Fonua, Carlos, Griffin, Sneyd, Kelly, Watts, Houghton, Bowden, Green, Hadley, Taylor - so the aim should be to keep them together and build the camaraderie that Leeds managed to do for so long. Even if this year is less successful the medium term IMO is the brightest it's been with the platform and ambition the club now has. Just going to enjoy it.

Fans have been saying they want us to 'kick on', and that means doing better or at least maintaining our achievements so silverware of some sort is a must no?

Potential problems are:
Fans expectation
Not having as good a run on injuries
Lack of experience in the youngsters that need to back up should we get injuries.
RAdford not getting game plan/selections/interchanges right.
Players not performing as they could/should, though this in part comes back to the coach and also down to niggling injuries that fans aren't always aware of.

Will we win a trophy, possibly, do I feel confident, not yet. Our minimum MUST be top four and to aim to get to the semis in the cup.
Anything less is a failure in the owners eyes at least and should be for fans too.

As for those you're saying need to up their game, they all did far better than pritchard by a distance. people also slagging off Thompson but a player brought to the club as a utility back is now expected to come on in fits and starts and excell as virtually another prop. he doesn't get enough regular game time and trying to use him as a prop doesn't work. he's an agile/speedy forward that can do longer minutes, we just don't use him that way that often.

Can see Ellis struggling to get over his niggle, mini's standard rarely drops.

This year is a real test of what LR is about, we had/have an awesome squad, last year was good in so far as we had a low level of injuries to players that are vital and we played far far better than 2014 and 2015 with Radford making improvements in what went on the pitch.
Personally I think it's stronger than last year now we've got rid of Yeaman, feka and Pritchard. this year we should be kicking on and being one of the main contenders.

We'll just have to see what happens, I can't get down until the Saints game in any case so hoping by then we have three wins out of three

wow. hope is we get in top 4, expectations we play with the same commitment as last year, predictions, mmmmmm top 4/5 and fancy us to give the cc another good crack,

[iFirst priority is Top 8. Aim for Top 4 and in an ideal world hit the business end on an upward trajectory. Wembley again would be great but frankly I'm a bit concerned that nothing will ever eclipse 27th August 2016. I know winning SL is seen by most as the ultimate but after last year's cup win in it's hard to imagine more profound joy. Dave Woods commentary "History is made in the most dramatic of circumstances. The new Wembley has its classic final. They HAVE won at Wembley" will remain spine-tingling until my dying day. After that, anything more is a bonus.

[/i

Brilliantly encapsulates my feelings Mrs B I'm finding it hard to imagine anything as good and as time wears on, it just gets better and even to this day the hairs still stand up on my neck when I speak about it and I seem to do that just about every day. I know things move on but I can't seem to at present!


We won't be flying under the radar anymore we need the same luck with injuries but we are certainly good enough to do very well and with Citys Troubles and us being the only Super league Club in the City in it's special year the response already to the Catalan game shows that we are in deanger of having a big supporter base this year too, if we can keep them interested. With two great acquisitions in Griffin and Kelly and providing we pace ourselves better, we'll be fine and finish in the top four.

But, as I say, if we win the Grand Final, yes it will be absolutely amazing, but never as good as last year for me, so I'm in the lets sit back and enjoy it camp this year!

Glad it's not just me still reflecting in the afterglow of the Challenge Cup.
I still watch the highlights on YouTube most weeks. I just can't see anything ever surpassing that moment. Everything rugby wise for me led to that day. Still can't believe it.

As I can now die a happy man

, I'm just looking forward to seeing a different brand of rugby, enjoying game nights and never again having to yearn for a win on the Wembley turf.

Looking forward to seeing how Kelly goes and having a bit of X factor, but having a feeling we may miss the presence of Pritchard.
We won't be able to fly under the radar, so will be interesting to see how we cope with being there to be shot down. Test of our mentality methinks.

Hope for top 4, but could be top six. All depends on how healthy the squad stays.
Also a big year recruitment wise, so will be interesting to see what decisions are made in that regard next season.

Also hoping for a glorious failure again in the million pound game for the Dobbins

We are on paper better in the backs but weaker in the forwards and its gonna be a big season in terms of how the younger players step up - for me that will be the most important piece in the jigsaw - we will get injuries and its how they step up that will make or break us in a very tight competition this year

I dont get the whole wembley thing and tbh i didnt last year either even though i was very happy we won - to be recognised as the greatest team in the league you have to win the Grand Final - that has to be our aim - i dont think we are capable just yet as we dont have that winning mentality built into the team yet but i think we'll get close - last year was a very good chance with a great make up of players - this year i dont feel the same

If we are weaker in the forwards by losing Pritchard it should be pointed out that although he is a great character and undoubtedly boosted team morale he was our fourth best second rower last season.

We are definitely stronger in the backs with Kelly, Griffin and Connor in and Yeaman and Pryce out (Leon only played thirteen games in 2016).

The prospect of injuries is a worry, we are unlikely to be as blessed as last year when remarkably eighteen players made 25+ appearances from thirty-five games and thirteen missed just seven or fewer.

Agree that a lot of how the season goes depends on how the younger players step in. Can't see us being as lucky with injuries next season.
Connor will be in the first 13 by seasons end I reckon.

given a good run on the injury front i would expect us to be in the top 4 along with wigan, warrington and maybe cas, maybe saints. leeds should finish higher but i don't think they have improved their team at all - they will get better form wise though. the rest are much like last season. however i think we might make a slower start, perhaps a bit like wigan did last season.
it is also worth noting that a of other club's fans are fairly pessimistic about their teams chances - the aforementioned leeds, widnes, saints and huddersfield.

at the risk of ridicule later on in the year
1. wigan
2. warrington
3. us
4. saints
5. cas
6. leeds
7. catalan (i don't think they will be as bad as folk are making out)
8. salford
9. wakey
10. hudds
11. leigh
12. widnes

in reality the bottom 4 could be in any order

I can't see him starting unless we have a problem at 6. Fingers crossed we won't have.

Teams are going to be ready for us up front a but more this year I'd imagine .
If we can win the majority of the forward battles like we did last year our attack could be seriously devastating this time round.
Top 4 should be the aim , and a nice trouncing of leeds would be a nice

Ellis is the key - He's probably in his last season and we all know how much of a different side we are with him in - with him playing a majority of games we'll finish top four, without him were top eight. Once he goes (and possibly Mini) theres no one presently at the club goof enough to step up as i dont rate Hadley

Also think this could be they last year. If so think we need another top drawer 2nd rower. Hadley is no world beater but IMO big year for him.as I like his attitude and hard running. Also turgut could turn out to be a good player for us. Interesting times.

Looking at that catalan squad, I dont think they will be either, look very strong on paper, walsh and myler stay fit (which is unlikely) they could have a very good year. As far as us goes, no reason why we cant push for both trophies really, like a few others, worry about injuries to our forwards and having the players that can step in and make a difference, most have written Thompson off , but out off all fringe and bench players, really think he could, and is most likely to step it up this year. Possibly not having the characters around the place off pritchard and pryce could make a differance, think a lot of the team moral, togetherness came from them 2

Your first sentence makes no sense. How can teams not understand where anothers strength is, all you had to do was look at our pack as soon as the squads were settled and it's right, FC have a huge pack, that's where they are going to focus on breaching us. To say teams weren't ready and are going to be more ready for us this year is totally unfounded and illogical.
What happened was we had probably the best pack in SL, we had most of our big hitters for most of the season far more than other teams, that meant we were able to make headway through the forwards more often than not. it's not that teams weren't 'ready', it's just that we had more firepower more often.

What we offered last season was predictable, it's just that the opposition didn't have enough to overcome it.

Head says 4th heart says 1st.

My head thinks that we won't be as lucky with injuries and other teams will be better at dealing with our style of play.

My heart thinks that we'll smash 'em down the middle and we'll score for fun out wide. 20 tries each for Shaul, Fonua and Albert.

I hope teams concentrate on our pack as feel we have some really good power and strike in the outside backs this year. Although a bit loose at times in the last two friendlies, I think we have seen we are going to throw the ball about, last year if our pack couldn't get on top, we didn't have the back and halfs to unlock defences, I feel with that that with our backs this year.

tend to agree with your heart
We just need to keep our left edge more involved as out right side will see a lot more ball with Kelly there.

Hoping and think we will get top 4, where in the top 4 I don't know. We should have the squad to do it, just will depend on injuries and making sure people behave as they should. I personally don't care about the cup this year, the wembley win finally was the greatest thing ever. I want us to kick on in the league and really go for it.
(another cup win would be nice mind you

)

Hopes:
I hope we back up last season with a strong year and a trophy.

Expectations:
I think on paper we have a top5 squad. Top8 should be a bare minimum (baring a catastrophe on the injury front). I think Wigan in particular & Warrington's squads are stronger than ours and I reckon they'll be top2 by a fair distance. I expect us to be fighting it out with Saints & Cas for a playoff spot, and a strong defence of the cup.

Predictions:
Wigan
Warrington
Saints
Hull
Cas
Leeds
Catalans
Wakefield
Salford
Leigh
Hudds
Widnes

Rovers, Toulouse, London & Feath top4 from the Championship.
Rovers vs Hudds as the £1m game. Hudds to stay up.

6th or 7th

Tough division this year . I hope our expectations have not been built up too high ?
A top 6 finish is a must .

Think we'll be top4 but got a nagging feeling we'll still fall short of Old Trafford, but then again I didn't see last year coming at all...my crystal ball is on the blink!

Top 4 and a good cup run. Pretty much the same as my expectations for last season.
Hopefully not lost any of that tremendous team spirit we had last year, although I think Frank played a massive part in that. We have strengthened in the backs but look a bit light in the forwards. Hopefully we can do as well injury wise in 2017 as we did in 2016.

As a few others have mentioned we need the younger players to step up and show they are capable as and when the time comes.

Be nice to win more silverware but as we all know those big games are generally tight affairs that are settled by the odd mistake by a player or an official. You need a good run of luck as well as skill to win trophies.