So now the dust has settled, what is everyone's opinion of 2017 as a season? I know the cup run and wembley were amazing again and maybe will cloud our judgement on the season as a whole, but my feeling is it's not been a great season overall.

Heavy defeats at home, losing a number of games to middle 8's bound clubs, massive inconsistencies in performances and only 17 wins from 31 league and play off games tell it's own story.

For me, only castleford have really stood up and shown a decent level of consistency this year whereas most other clubs have had some good bits mixed in with some indifferent ones. This had created a big opportunity for us to go to the GF and probably win it but early season performances and 3 losses against leeds left us with a trip to headingley where we haven't won for a decade and we're out thought and out enthused on the night.

So where do we go in 2018? For me we look weaker as a first 17 but maybe marginally better placed as a squad with abdul and hadley coming back. No doubt wire, saints and wigan will be better next year and add into the mix the return of the dobbins and it will likely make next year tougher than this one.

One thing which has to be put right is our home form which has been below what you'd expect this year and almost cost us a top 4 finish.

So for me it was probably a 7 out of 10 season in SL and we must do better next year or will be sat outsider the top 4 come season's end

Can't argue with that, more or less my own thoughts to

I agree, I thought we were poor for big chunks of the season (sometimes in victory, as well as in the big defeats).
We flatter to deceive with the ball at times, we go side to side too much, and Shaul still hasn't got that creative, try assisting side to his game that some of the other full backs in the league have.

For me, I would keep Shaul to backing up breaks in the middle and capatalising out of dummy half when the markers are not set. I would have Abdull at 13 as an extra pivot as our pack is big enough to lose a 'prop' playing in that position. Watts can still be told to run wider out where he had a lot of success this year.

Interesting year to say the least.

One of my main worries going into 2017 was whether we'd be able to backup 2016 with another decent year (looking back to 2005/6), and I think we have to be honest.

The obvious highlight was that won the cup again, back-to-back for the first time in our history, beating four Superleague sides along the way - including the league's top2. We turned in some really top class performances in the run, but that makes our league form even more frustrating.

We did manage to get into the playoffs again coming 3rd, albeit we should have had it sewn up long before then. That means we've got to each of the four major semi-finals in the past two years, the only club to do so.

But the league form as a whole was patchy at best, we'd seemingly not turn up for some games. Our ball-retention and discipline at times was dreadful and sides didn't have to do much to score. It's concentration & discipline, when we kept errors & penalties to a minimum, we were almost unplayable, it just didn't happen enough.

We've seem some massive improvements in certain players over the season like Carlos & Bowden. Watts I believe has emerged into a World class prop & Connor has been a great signing.

Shaul's game has been altered so that he's not used as a pivot anymore & we use the 13 instead, but I think that means our attack with ball in hand is a bit flat. That's the main area of improvement I want to see for 2018.

Overall I'd give it an 8/10








The league is getting much more competitive, albeit I think the standard is a fair bit lower than it used to be. I expect 2018 to be even closer.

Positives for for where
Our improved attacking play
Winning without key players
Backing up the cup win (Never since Iv'e been a Hull fan have we won two trophies 2005/2006, was the closest)
Young players
Better in the super 8's

Home form and big losses are a concern.

Overall more positive than negatives, but certainly things to work on, particularly with tow big losses on the player side.

I think we will be there or there about's next year, think we need to finish in the top two.

Grand final has to be the aim.

Agree with this. Only thing I want changing is consistency in the league. Leigh and Catalan defeats cost us dear, oooohhhh and a small result like BEATING FFFFING LEEDS!!!! 8 out of 10. Tie Connor down to 5 years, Abdul at loose forward, stop whining about Shaul, his performances in the latter stages were excellent. Ellis will be a massive hole to fill. I think Faraimo’s defence will help immensely, Fonua was a beast but his defence at times was poor, not sure he’ll succeed in the NRL but I do want him to. I’m not one to look back, so I’m looking forward to 2018 with great expectations, maybe the Double

I think we have had a great season winning the CC again. I'm a bit gutted about not getting to OT because I was confident we would make it.

I'm just very happy to see us playing with passion and improving year on year. I often think about the Hetherington/Agar era (it seemed like an eternity of shoite) and how good it is too see us heading in the right direction. I'm gutted we didn't make OT but I think we still have a lot of improvement. We are learning how to play without Ellis and with Radford coaching and Pearsons ambition, I don't see why we can't be more successful next year. Proud of our club at the moment

I look back on this season with a great deal of frustration. As the poem goes, when we were good, we were very very good. When we were bad, we were horrid!

Poetry on RLFANS! You can tell we are City of Culture

8/10 for me too, our attack has been better but still needs some work, Ellis will be a big loss but I think we have recruited and retained players to cope with it.

Be very interesting to see Ellis' first actions as Football Manager (or whatever his title is), Motu has helped us make some very astute signings. Would definitely look to get Connor contracted for 4 years or so, the next thing I'd like to hear is that Kelly has signed another contract, ideally 2+1 option or similar.

Any season that includes winning one of the few major trophies you can win,has to be regarded as a success.the home form is a concern for me.forgetting the cup win against cas at home,2 of hulls best home performances were when we were down to 12 men.most other home games we were average win or lose.

Next year is going to be a lot more difficult then this . Wigan wire and saints will all improve but I can't see wakey and Salford matching this seasons form . But our biggest problem is seeing how we cope without 2 of our better and most important players apart from the halfs in Ellis and Fonua . 2 massive loses !!

To win one out of two trophy's imo is a success. To think where we've come from in 3 years is fantastic. Back to back Wembley wins history making. 2 semi finals and 2 third places really good. Can we get better yes we can but we've gotta enjoy the remarkable success we have achieved. These special times don't come round a lot. We have gotta build on this and be in the mix again next year. We lose fonua and Ellis but gain Micky Hadley abdull and fauima. I've loved being a fc fan these last 2 years

last season when we had this discussion i said we needed a halfback and the club made it happen in the end bringing in Kelly.
For next season i think we are short of a Masila/Mcmeeken type stong and fast second row.
For that to happen we would have to release one or two players.
Thompson for instance is now being left behind although given opportunities he hasnt taken them.
Dean Hadley undoubtably will shore up the defence but is not an attacking second row and will take on the role of Washbrook which really means we could also if necessary release Washbrook.
A new strong fast second row with Watts at 13, Bowden starting prop with Taylor and a bench of Paea,Green,Mini and Hadley.
I also hope the club give Connor a run at right centre rather than moving him about.
The arrival of Miloudi who has pace and is a very competent half back or full back could see him cover those positions rather than moving Connor.
Only problem is his temperament.

There are still areas for improvement but it has been up there with the best despite the disappointments.

The bad

Inconsistency and some big scorelines against. I know you can't win them all but conceding 40 or 50 points in a game is not on.
Home form - its hardly fortress KC at the moment. I felt more confident when they played away and that really shouldn't happen. What's more poor shows at home are not going to help attendances grow.

The good

The cup of course - what Wembley hoodoo?
Maintaining the standard set in the previous season, Wigan & Warrington couldn't do it, Warrington spectacularly so. Its important that this revival in fortune keeps on track, too many times in the last 30 years we have seen an upturn fizzle out rapidly.
Signs that the team can win without Ellis (though he will be a huge loss).

Overall its been good, perhaps not quite as good as 2016 because it was that elusive first Wembley then and it had the added bonus of the MPG to keep the joy going but I can't say I'm disappointed.

I realise next year will again be a tough job and I won't go in with any expectations of silverware but the team is in decent shape and as long as the spirit and effort is maintained there are at least realistic hopes of some good days.

Our expectations have risen because of the CC wins, because we have a great squad of players, because we are passionate and want to win and when we get a sniff we do feel disappointed when we don't get everything we want. I think we've had a good season, with the squad we have, one that is even better than last seasons, there should be an expectation to be in it for silverware at the pointy end.

Connor has being a revelation, Kelly has being at times sublime, Sneyd has proven his doubters wrong and has improved IMHO, young players like Fash have come through to show they are worthy of a place in the 17 and some performances were absolutely top drawer against the top sides in the league (Cas in the CC and home league game plus Leeds in CC)
Radford has learnt that rotating players is an absolute must, injury or not, that was what cost us last year ultimately, that and the post wembley headache, he changed that this year and acknowledged early on (In the pre-season friendlies) that he needed to involve the younger squad players more and trust to them.
At times in attack we've looked fantastic, at time in defence we've being brutal.

So, all that said, why have we been so far off the pace of Cas and massively inconsistent? Too often our discipline has let us down, too often the mental preparation seems nonexistent, too often we put in really poor performances especially at home, not because we don't have the ability or personnel, but because we didn't turn up or just lapsed for long periods. That is as much down to the coach as it is the players.

Too often our line speed in defence is shockingly slow, too often we are missing tackles (worst in the league for it by a big margin), too often giving away posession, we made the 3rd highest amount of tackles, only just behind salford and saints), we made too many errors, 2nd only to Saints. Too often we look short of ideas in the 20m and are relying on a kick, we were very low down in the tries scored dept (7th I think) and Sneyd's goalkicking has won us a heck of a lot of games. catalans are the only other side to kick more goals than tries scored (just one in their case).

Given everything and how we were going to push on and with a better rounded squad than last year I think its a 7.5/10 season, as I said though, our expectations are higher now so if we had gone from doing nothing to winning the CC and being so close to getting the league leaders and GF appearance like last year then that score would be higher..
Some things are very good, some aspects have improved but there are still the same problems rearing their head that means the difference between being CC winners and 3rd place to being at the top table for both.

You still can’t give Radford any credit, can you. If you’ve got a season pass I’ll buy it off you and get crowd funding to put a wilted pot plant in your seat.

My problem with this years FC side is its a good team but its not an amazing team and that is why we can only realistically mount one challenge and that was the CC. Ill get shot down but it would of been better to go out of the CC to say Cas then we could of concentrated on winning the GF with 100% focus

I never liked Pearson crowing from the rooftops (or city hall balcony) that this team wants to win the GF which of course unrealistically lifted fans expectations beyond what the squad is capable of. Yes want it but dont be shouting your mouth off about it

I've said the same regards next season . Think it will benefit us if we can go out at the first opportunity so we can concentrate on the league position and grand final .

If I could have one thing next season it would be that the class of 2018 become the first FC team to really make the KCOM a fortress and that we win almost if not all our games there. I don't know how we do it but a team with such passion and tenacity should make their home a 'hell house' that teams don't want to come to. Instead I have the opinion at times that teams like to come and play there.

The first paragraph I can agree with, the second not.
What was Pearson supposed to say. 'Thanks for coming everyone, but the lads have put the cues on the rack and we won't be trying to win the GF'.

He said what everyone wanted to hear, that we were going to give it a shot, and we did, and came within a whisker of making it to OT.

IMO an 8 out of 10 for me, and I hope next year that we do as you say.

All of that and then some...
The home form was terrible..even the games we won aren't great viewing mostly. Ground out wins with a squad on paper in the top 2 before seasons start
We got points early on whilst riding our luck..played hudds with 9 out..played Wigan with even more out..played wire who were utterly terrible at the time (still dropped a point. Then we got nearly 120 put on us at home v Salford n Leeds. 45.0 at magic. 40odd by hudds at home
Saw a season best 6 performances on our season review on something. Had cas other week with 9 out and Wigan at home when they had loads out. So it's fair to say we're struggling to pick out more than 4 top games performance wise. Our size..superior squad to most and sneyds kicking got us out of jail many games
Our stat not long ago was we'd conceded more tries than scored. A terrible stat for a 3rd placed team tbh.
People saying improved attack. Barring a maverick in the middle in Kelly not much else has changed. His individual efforts have added a little more. If teams really work on nullifying our kick threat for tries we'll be bang in trouble.
Which brings me to the problem. Shaul has been great to watch at times. But lack of ball in hand threat is killing us. Utterly killing us. 4 try assists all year. Rankin has 9 already. Yes that's not his game. But that's not good enough in this age. He scores some worldies..but they tend to come in games we're well winning. In big matches that need a game breaker they're rare. Scored 2 in games We've lost this year I think. Rest in games We've won and drained the opposition and tired them out. With a fullback who could link and pass our wings would have 5 a piece more minimum
Last week our forwards didn't dominate so sneyd struggled..so Leeds got Kelly extra attention. That's it. Kicks to Connor out in the centre was our only outlet
2016 and 2017 are missed opportunities. This is a good good team at its best and it should be lifting the trophy on saturday
Next year people are saying extra pivot at 13. Nearest I see that is watts or Hadley. We don't play that way to carry a pivot. We play off being dominant. Kelly can make a fist of it if not but sneyd is redundant if not
I look around I see so much potential in the teams around us to improve
If Barba stays and combined with new coach having an off-season in saints be really strong
Wigan will be unlucky to have as many injuries. Plus wane be gone by Easter if they don't buck up
Wire right back in the mix next year by time they've completed recruitment. Masila and Currie alone would've won them a few more this year
Leeds are Leeds. Who'd have said they'd be in GF at seasons start
We don't add some new stuff and find our home form we'll miss the 4. If we'd not had fortune of Cas in last game and them resting most of the team we could of easily missed this
Now that's all a bit doom and gloom. But I'm just been honest. Check my posts back. I was saying a lot of this 5 months ago
It still hasn't sunk in we've won the cup back to back (at Wembley) which is amazing. But can a season be measured by 3 or 4 cup games a year?
I'd still say it's been a successful year in the most part. But this team was a good team on a mega foundation from the year before. So it's part success part under achievement
Sorry to be so negative but I truly believed we were going there Saturday and I've seen us at our best v both who are there and our best beats theirs!

nowt like being positive

Are you simply incapable of reading, I've given Radford plenty of recognition/credit in what i wrote