M@islebugs wrote:
Obviously we are all presuming we will make the middle eight. If my understanding is correct if are to be promoted, either in a play off or by being in the top 3 of the 8 we will have to beat at least one Super league side.
I'm guessing most of us would pick Wakey and HKR as the most likely to be in the middle 8 with us. Considering the respective merits of the squads so far do we stand any chance of beating them.
Wakey managed the truly extraordinary feat of losing to the Bulls twice last season. However a change of coach meant they finished strongly, have signed Paea and Smith. Purely on the basis of their front row I'd say Wakey have the edge on us.
HKR look very light in all depts but have signed a couple of Aussies and are still looking to sign more. The Chairman has come out slagged off the players and they've released almost half the squad. They finished the season poorly and are looking to play Donno and McCarthy in the back row who are both relatively light without appearing to have enough props. i think is a close one.
The unknown factor is the toll the season will tell. Will the relatively lighter campaign in the Championship mean the Bulls are in better shape after 22 games than two SL squads, one of whom look short on numbers.
Personally I'd pick our backrow and stand off options over either of them but elsewhere not so sure. Personally, I think we're a good prop short of doing both of them.
What do others think?
It's going to be hard whoever we come up against. Playing badly or not they are allowed double our salary cap [I appreciate they may well not be actually
paying double] and will have been playing against better opposition than us, all season, so are going to be in the swing with the kind of form needed. Unless they have been getting some pretty heavy tonkings I suspect the fact they are now pitted against Championship clubs is going to give them a boost; just think how we felt in cup games against lower league opposition, however well we'd been playing in the league. ATEOTD, they know they only need to avoid losing to one of us to get back, which is pretty good encouragement, to be fair.
I feel our squad is going to be a strong one in the qualifying bit early on, in truth I feel it's possibly even stronger than one or two we've put out in SL, but it's the business end of the season where the more meaningful trophies are handed out. To that end, I hope we really are considered the 'big scalp' everyone wants, as it will give us that intensity which we'll lack compared to the SL clubs in that Mid 8 section.