brearley84 wrote:
i hope we can be in the top 4 but id settle for top 6 minimum.... which really after finishing 1st last season is poor, but we are not trying to win the league this year are we, all about the play offs! so like i say top 6 minimum otherwise (playoffs pending) it will be seen as a failure this season..being out of the cup too early doors.
we could be alot higher up the table if it wasnt for some really bads decisions by refs this season and not getting the bounce of the ball...two draws and the widnes away game spring to mind.
i dont agree that its a weaker league, if anything its stronger... the bottom teams have been scared stiff of finishing bottom due to relegation and been prepared to go well from the start with a good pre season..this is why you are seeing cas and widnes up there, they havent had the players in the world cup and a good pre season.
the big teams had players coming in late jan.. like us ferres/brough/cudjoe etc ...18months continuous rugby is hard on these.. said before the cream will rise to the top back end of the season
I take your point about the WC taking a big chunk of the off-season, but I really think it's a weaker league.
At the top Wigan have lost their best player to the NRL, half of Wire have retired, Leeds are clinging on to a bunch of thirty somethings.
In the middle the Hull clubs are treading water as they always do and Catalans have lost a genuinely superb coach and have gone backwards.
At the bottom, London and Bradford have basically collapsed off the field and aren't much more than pub sides, and Wakey are starting almost from scratch, again. Salford have been bought by a rich idiot who's already on his third coach in a year.
As for Cas and Widnes, they are two big improvers I agree. Widnes are almost a poster club for the licensing system and have been patiently building for a couple of years, so their current success is well earned and no surprise to me. Cas got rid of Milward, who was an overrated coach living off past glories and had off the field personal stuff to sort out as well, and more importantly they got rid of Rangi Chase who destroys any team he plays in. They have good players who've been badly handled, and now they're shining and rightly so.
Saints have improved by the addition of a half back and the retirement of some of the old clique who've held the club back in the past five years. They're getting the accolades because they're not as bad the rest, not because they're actually any good. I don't rate them myself, but in this comp they may still win the lot.
The big disappointment for me is that Fartown haven't kicked on when the competition really isn't up to much. If they get their heads right, they can have a really good tilt at the play-offs IMO.
It's a poor competition at the moment, and it's there for the taking for a good side that steps up.
