Quote: casman2 "I have the same feeling, although this is more down to the arrogance of Koukash than anything else. He seems to think he can do what he likes just because he has money and that buying a team guarantees success. I for one hope he falls flat on his face.
In all honesty I think it is pretty safe to say that if London do enter the competition next season they will be behind from the kick off as they haven't signed any players and seem to be losing nearly all their current ones to retirement or other clubs. So for that reason I have to say them to finish bottom. (although whether the RFL actually relegate them for finishing bottom is another story!)
As for the other team to go down, I'm really not sure.
Wakefield have time to find more investment and they have a good crop of players but just need to sign a play maker to replace Tim Smith.
Widnes seem to be getting stronger and I think another off season under their belt will help them further
Salford I think will be around 8th/9th place
Bradford I think will be the same
As for Cas, I'm interested to know who else is leaving (rumours aside!) and who we are bringing in. Hopefully a full pre-season under Powell will benefit the squad but losing a player of Rangi's talent is going to be massive for us. As I have said on another thread, I hope we don't replace him with someone who is either extremely cheap or someone nearing retirement (i.e. Dorn) as this will not help us avoid relegation. I'd like to see us sign a young talented half that has a proven track record but also something to prove to the rest of the RL world. That may be asking too much as I know halves are in short supply but that for me is the ideal.
Obviously defence is our biggest weakness. I can't remember the last time we conceded less than 24 points in a game. This is something we desperately need to work on, We're good in patches but it doesn't seem to last long. We will need to work on attack too as 95% of our moves went through Rangi so we need someone to step up and take that role on'"
See I'm the opposite. However much I don't like the Dr's goings on I hope they win the league or compete very well next season (other than against us). Why? Because it would then show potential investors that RL is an attractive investment for their millions.
I believe with good investment teams like Wakefield/Cas/Fev could compete with the big guns as there's no other major sport other than Leeds FC for people to go and see.
