I agree just to be back on track this year and competing for top 4 and play some good rugby will do me. With a real push in 2018 for trophies

For me I'm interested to see who starts at loose forward. JJB was the main starter there last year and got his hands on the ball a lot trying to be a ball playing forward but he's limited in that aspect really. If we go with Stevie Ward I think it'll make a big difference to our attack. Ferres was looking good when he switched from the left to the right side alongside Watkins, so if Ablett can get back some form then our backrow is very good with experience heads like JJB and Delaney able to play supporting roles which will suit their bodies better.

We still made the 3rd most metres of any team before the split and that's in a struggling depleted side and without Segeyaro until the last few games so we can clearly get forward with our forwards.

Salary cap only counts for highest paid 25 players

Not sure about the cost of reserve sides, a lot will have to do with regulations on a minimum player salary for reserve team players.

I think JJB may be a 4th prop next year with Galloway out for a long spell, albeit many teams now have a prop at loose forward. I agree about ward.

One thing I struggled to understand last season was using singleton or JJB as first receiver in the other team's 20. Good grafting forwards but not ball players.

May open up some more opportunity for young smith as well.

100% correct.

If the squad stays the same i see no higher than 6th.
We still need genuine quality & Leadership in the HB's to guide the team & Lilley.
Throw in our ageing injury prone pack i cant see Cuthbertson Garbutt & Segeyero carrying that workload all year.
Add in our Coaching staff who we know will revert to a 15 man bench selecting injured players & using the likes of Watkins as a Forward then 6th it is at best.
The highlight could well be the likes of Cam Smith & Young Oledski breaking through.

Which might be a short term highlight aswell.

Here he is......

Who mentioned McDermott? you seem to be the only one mentioning him.

Who mentioned 3/4 senior guys? I mentioned two. Spot on as usual mate whether you like it or not.

Who said I was talking about you? I was referencing the rumours in general spread on here.

And you do has serious delusions about your success rate with rumours, maybe try 5/10% instead of "spot on as usual"

You quoted a post referenced to me and stated about McDermott, so I think it is corret to assume you were referencing it to me. Of course you were off the mark, but not surprising. Was it just another attempt at bickering?

I think we will play better than last season in terms of performance, which is a positive, and hopefully IF younger players developed can only help longer term. But I think we will actually win less matches possibly overall, due to the competition. You say 6th, but I can't see us getting close to Saints, Warrington, Castleford, Catalans, Hull, and Wigan, which is six teams there already.

I don't really see how it is possible to play much worse that what was served up for most of the regular rounds, it is a nightmare we should be able to put behind us. I think Rhinoms is right, 6th is probably about where will end up with an outside chance of the four should a fancied club falter. I don't think SL is a great standard at the top but comparing those top squads with ours, i think Wigan, Cas, Warrington and Hull are clearly stronger. We are about Saints level for me as things stand.

Anyway, like others have said i could accept a 5th or 6th place finish if i get to see some good rugby being played and progress being made by the prospects pushing through.