Stan. You are bang on about us not getting ahead of ourselves. I still feel that a lot of our Championship opposition will seek to step up their intensity and performances against us this year to counter our so-called "favourites" tag.

How we deal with it and respond as a collective on the park will be a measure of our progress as a team from last season when we failed to even deal with the intensity of Oldham in the CC followed by the pressure and intensity of the middle 8s and Mpg when we imploded when it mattered most.

The way I see it we need to avoid complacency, inconsistency, a lack of composure, a lack of belief and conservatism in our game plans to do well in the 2017 regular season.

To get into the 8s and back into SL, we need flair, creativity, patience, intensity, speed and effort week in week out to keep winning.

Winning becomes habitual and a winning streak heading into the 8s will give us a huge confidence boost and the passion and momentum to down a couple of SL sides as well as the 3 Championship sides necessary to get back into SL.

The Sheens factor is the key element in this mix more than the players at this preseason moment.

It's a shame Bradford have gone the way they have, even with them in, you would have won the league, but it would have added much more interest and competition to the league

I'll miss some parts, but never really enjoyed the Derby games, although the last two season have certainly been more enjoyable



I think you have a very good chance of coming back up, think Widnes and maybe Salford are your target teams.

Blackpool will be great.

I think Ellis and Abdul will be fine, Ellis is a lower end SL standard and Abdul has the potential to be a top SL player, stronger than Widnes and Leigh's halfs IMO. Think you might lack a cutting edge in your centres and wingers, but I guess that depends on how your. Unknown Aussies go.

I'm not convinced by Abdul in half's at all.certainly not at super league level. (If we get back).he's a 13.we have plenty back rowers and about 5 full backs.id rather he get experience elsewhere and have a quality half steering us round.happy to be proved wrong

I think Abdul is ready to step up to be a main half and Ellis has been around long enough and is experienced Dobson was only 19 when he led Wigan to safety

Simalar to Cooke IMO, great hands, but better running game, kicking needs work.

Valid points.was this deal done before Sheens arrived?

I know Sheens wanted both Abdul and Ellis so he must have seen something in them I think Abdul spat his dummy out last season I think he thought he would be playing a lot more than he did instead he was shipped off to Fev

What if we make it back up which I hope we do first attempt, we will then need to look for a new halve back pairing due to both Ellis/Abdul on loan spells with us and wanted back at their parent clubs end of season

I have faith Tim will have a plan....

There is a reason they are both in the championship, KR are paying Ellis a massive wedge for a 1 year loan deal after Stone said he was free to go, Abdull was on loan at Fev and Ridyard schooled him in every aspect.

The KR team looks very competitive but I don't think Abdull & Ellis are anywhere near Mellor, Drinkwater, Ridyard, Hampshire or Reynolds.

Leigh were offered Ellis & turned him down.

I forgot we have other options at hb with Blair/Quinlan. Then moss at fb. Just wondered when Kr go to Tenerife warm weather training is it after Leeds game. Cos I have a feeling shillington maybe there with them by then

Hampshire and Reynolds are both average ridyard looks good let's see how him and drinkwater go in SL because Abdul and Ellis have actually played there

For me, Sio is a big if inevitable loss. We'll miss Walker too, and I expect him to go well at Saints.

Despite their talent it was a relief to see the Campese, Kelly and Dixon depart, because of injuries, attitude and unreliability respectively - and budgetary expense it all cases.

The likes of Thornley and Allgood will likely do okay in SL and would have probably have excelled for us in the Championship. But there was a need to move on and to find better value.

I think we've improved our depth, and for the first time in some time have been proactive, rather than waiting to see who is available. I'm still coming to terms with us trying to bridge the gap to other SL packs by signing only Clarkson and Mulhern. Obviously circumstances and needs were different this time around.

With Sheens in charge it feels more coherent and focused on what is important. Chester's innovative pre-season, Webster's interim status and Peacock's long-term focus can be consigned to history.

Ateotd it looks like a superb Championship squad. It should definitely make the middle 8s. With decent depth we should go into those games fresh and with some confidence. To get past even bottom 4 SL teams we'll need to raise our intensity and be more than the sum of our parts. Maybe make a couple more signings, too. A couple of SL teams do look vulnerable though.

IMO:

Ken Sio > Adam Quinlan
Iain Thornley > Jake Butler-Fleming
Kieron Dixon = Kieron Moss
Josh Mantellato > Andrew Heffernan
Terry Campese > Jordan Abdull
Albert Kelly > Jamie Ellis
Adam Walker > Nick Scruton
Dane Tilse < Mitch Clark
John Boubebza v ???
James Green > George Milton
Kevin Larroyer v ???
Mitch Allgood = Danny Addy

James Webster < Tim Sheens

Does look like a very good squad for the Championship though. Crunch time will be at the end of the season, IMO the halves aren't good enough to get us promoted and we'll need more grunt in the pack.

According to '5th Tackle', Sheens has talked Shillington out of retiring, but there have been so many names mentioned by Sheens - Shillington, Hala, Page - I've given up speculating. IMO any one of these three would go well in the Championship.

I believe Rovers fly to warm weather training after Ryan Hall's testimonial.

I think I read somewhere that Shillington has retired

Your argument doesn't make sense, you are saying that Abdul and Ellis aren't as good as the Leigh halfbacks because they currently play in the championship, where have Ridyard, Drinkwater and Reynolds played most of their careers? None are tested in SL and you have to ask why they haven't been signed by SL clubs in the past.

How do you know how much Rovers are paying Ellis, maybe that's why Leigh choose not to sign him, rather than based in his ability.

I agree with him..that's how I see it at present.but I also can see others optimism in abdull ellis. Would rather had Marsh than abdull in half's I'd go so far to say I don't think abdull is good enough for a team with our aims.unless in pack where we are rich in back row.waste on salary cap imo

Ridyard didn't "school" Abdull because Abdull didn't play in any of Fev's three games against Leigh.

It does make sense if read as a balanced opinion including some actual facts and not a put down to Hull KR.

They are BOTH in the champ for a reason, the reason is their parent SL clubs are unwilling to start the 2017 season with them in their squads. Both have question marks over fitness & weight.

Mellor is a quality proven SL half and is a starting half at Widnes, Drinkwater is proven at SL & NRL, Reynolds played 5 SL games as a 17 year old at Cas, Hampshire has been in SL most of his career and Ridyard is unproven at that level but is certainly one to watch for, see Gary Schofields published thoughts on him.

Anyway this is a an internet based RL opinion forum and not a crystal ball, I will keep popping back throughout the season and see how your new duo are getting on and what KR fans opinions of them are.

I actually really rate Marsh.

I'd rather bring on Marsh than some one else's project.Marsh has had some stand out games Widnes away sticks out for me and some bang average games.par for course for a young half.he actually looked well at fullback when put there but seeing as we now have 5, 2 of which are imports he won't get a run there.not sure how long his injury is due to last think fairly bad one?but if fit I'd rather see Marsh /Ellis than the unit

I think Abdul is better than Marsh and I think he will sign permanently if Kelly goes well for Hull the fact Sheens saw Marsh as a full back says it all

I am very balanced, in fact as a Hull fan you would expect me to side with you.



I like Mellor, he is a good runner, but he is on the own, look at how many games they won with and without Brown.

Drinkwater isn't proven at NRL and SL level, he has played 5 NRL games and only a few for London in which they only won one game and he looked pretty average to me.

Hampshire best position is FB, even at Cas when they had injuries he played on the wing.

Reynolds played 5 games of SL at 17, what does this prove?

The worst comment must be about Scofield, a great player, but terrible pundit, says things for effect.

Ellis is a decent player for a lower league side and Abdul has do much potential (more than all of those mentioned). For me they ar better combinations than both Leigh and Widnes, but as you say, we will have to see in the middle 8's.