Were have we added that need strengthening? The only quality i can see that we needed was signing Blake Green and even that is a risk.

Mason, great but not needed in 2nd row but will take it.
Hall, neither here nor there, will either add to depth or take someones place but wont be any better then we have.

Top 4 is well out of reach, 5 6 or 7th for us again and for FC imo. With hopefully a better cup run for us this time.

Green will be a better option than what we had last season at 6, surely?

Mason can play in the front row without a problem, so adds very good options.

Hall has the potential, he may may produce, he may not but will add cover in the outside backs.

Mason adds a good offload IF morgan uses it, also will make space for others when hes targetted, but could cause major dressingroom disfunction.

Hall has had potential for the last 8 years, cover is all it will ever be, will not add anything.

Green i agree is obviously the best option we have to improve.... but look at the improvement of teams around us, looking at them and us id say we wont be moving much higher fast.

we have added the strength as in green takes cooke's place after we binned him off after 4 games so didn't play for practically all season, mason takes walkers place who sat in the stand all season and craig hall who love him or hate him has played about 60 superleague games and scored about 40 tries takes ratu's place in the squad after looking not good enough after 4 games also. Added to that we've released former juniors who have'nt broken through really with the next batch.

I reckon that gives us a stronger squad next year, having said that I still see us as only 6th best in the league and are scrappping for 5th with hudds, unless one of the big 4 of wigan, saints, leeds or Wire unexpectedly fall over. I'd be delighted with 5th or 6th though if it includes a good cup run.

No guarantee of that happening!

The kid knows how to find the try line as Sandy has pointed out.

Teams have improved around us as we have ourselves, it shows we are not prepared to just sit back.

Exactly weve added depth not strength. Yes ok Green is going to play ill give you that 1, but we havent signed someone who is going to knock someone down a peg is what im getting at.

Walker and Cooke wernt going to be here anyway so no they havent been replaced by those players.

Spoken like a true fan.

So you were wrong then



Overestimating your own side whilst underestimating Rovers, what a shock

I think you know nowt you got nothing right so go away you really are a pain now

Measured...good stuff.

Plenty to fear for Cardiff, not least

A NO away shirts to play in
B NO Willie.......plenty of cocks mind (lol)
C Nobody left in the stadium by the time we kick off
D The pitch badly cut up by the time we kick off
E Frostbite
F Getting ripped off by Cardiff hoteliers
G Burger king running out of burgers.......again!!
H Weather disrupted travel

Seriously guys, hope its a good weekend, and may the best team win( im sure we will lol)

If that's the hkr side I'd be confident.

There's a few changes what would improve the side IMO.

Maybe I did overestimate and underestimate but I was a heck off a lot closer than any of you lot



Remind me of all your predictions last year, strange thing is you lot never learn and appear to be doing it again

If you look up my predictions for last year I said FC would start ok, but would yet again be moaning about injuries by May (even tho they'd signed over the hill players and no HB cover) I said Rovers and FC would be a place apart but we would go further in the play offs. I must admit I thought we'd have a good cup run which was not forth coming. Still a lot closer than your prediction.

my predictions were hull and rovers 6th and 7th and not sure who would be higher, nearer than you i think. This year i'll go Rovers 5th Hull 7th!

I think they varied from 2-8 but most said about 7th. I was wildly optimistic and said 6th - not too shabby I suppose.

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What would they be?
(I promise I won't tell Justin

)

Very interesting looking back at some of the comments from posters...usual garbage from Zoddy & Co

maybe just following your trend of thinking your lot would finish second

Cockayne
Fox
Webster
Hall
Colburn
Murrell
Dobson
Vella
Fisher
Clinton
Galea
Mason
Watts

Wheeldon
Lovegrove
Newton
Hodgson

For me, Briscoe wasn't that bad to omit from the team, he wasn't at his best but he's a lot more solid that Cockayne at the back.

Hall needs to earn his place in the team so unless he does quite a bit more in pre season than Welham, he should retain his place.

The only other change I'd make is Murrell at loose for Watts and then put him in the front row starting with Vella, dropping Clinton to the bench in place of Wheeldon. I feel this give us better balance in the props, having one as a "holding player" and one providing a more direct contribution. Vella and Lovegrove as the holding players and Clinton and Watts as the more go forward types. I like your idea of Mason starting and hoping for a bit more impact with Newton off the bench, so I'd go with;

Briscoe, Fox, Webster, Welham, Colbon, Green, Dobson, Vella, Fisher, Watts, Mason, Galea, Murrell. Int; Hodgson, Lovegrove, Clinton, Newton.

Watts ahead of Wheeldon.

Never get confident about derbies, seen too many that have gone 'against' the odds. On paper our 17 is better I think, but the game is played on grass.

=#FF0000I agree

We have so many options in the forwards e.g. Mason can play anywhere including L/F a bit like Watts did towards the end of the season.
I also wouldn't play Newton from the bench, for me he is one of the best all-round S/R in SL and needs to start.

And I in turn, also agree fine Sir. Nice this isn't it. I see Clinton, Vella, Mason, Newton, Lovegrove and Watts as almost interchangeable with Murrell and Galea able to play both loose and SR. I'd like to see us switch these players around during games to mix up the angles and exactly who's doing what. Newton's running out wide is great, but it's much easier to defend against if you know that's what he's likely to do nearly every time he gets the ball.



I agree, he is good, but we've flogged him and Galea to death over the last two seasons and I feel that out of the players we have he could cause more damage in spells towards the end of the half. Galea is a much better defender, mainly due to his ability to read the game and would keep things tighter at the start of the game.

It's only an idea of Sheldon's that I've run with a little.