sorry i missed the

Yes it does naturally, but it was always inevitable and better than the alternative of another week of false hope and then losing 6 in a row at OT, so I'm pretty stoical over it all on balance really. I'm feeling genuinely hopeful for the new season unlike this time last year which is the main thing

Agree fully, especially the latter.

Oh, don't put yourself down so... You're no more classless than most of your oikish terrace compatriots I'm sure...

Oh, not another one... The British game will never again see players of that ilk and they are impossible to replace. Where do you think you're going to find a core of players to replace Briers, Morley, Hodgson, Monaghan, etc. who are the bedrock of your current success in the years to come? You won't be able to because the current crop of youngsters are nowhere near their quality and we soon won't be able to sign top Ossies anymore. You'll be in the same boat as us and Wigan (and Leeds in a few season's time once their great core of players are gone) of having to make do with the Gaskells, Lomaxes, Mylers, Smiths and Greens instead.



Indeed. I reckon over the next decade or so we'll see 5 or 6 clubs cycling around in the top positions from season to season with the rest just making up the numbers and giving us someone to hold a fixture against every week. Saints and Warrington will both, barring disaster, most certainly be among the "cyclers".

Sadly I think the quality of SL is going to decline a bit, as there won't be the same quality Aussies coming over given the increase in their salary cap and the strength of the Aussie dollar due to Australia's position as a main exporter of raw materials to the developing countries in asia which will carry on for the next few years.

So there will be fewer quality players and there will be more of a premium on who has got better young players coming through their youth system.

I know this is the point where fans of clubs like Saints, Wigan and Leeds usually start lecturing Warrington on how we only ever sign old past its and we have neglected junior development yadayada but we just won the U20s Grand Final yesterday so the signs are we can at least hold our own now.

I think there will be a vacuum in power at the top in 2013-15 where Saints can make their move if they have good recruitment under Nathan Brown. Warrington will lose 4 of our key players, Briers, Hodgson, Michael Monaghan and Morley around the same time and they will be hard to replace. Wigan have got lots of young talent but are also a bit fragile for me, outside of Sam Tomkins I think they are limited and they are signing some worryingly average players, so they may be having a dip. And Leeds are going to be in a similar position to us losing a lot of big guns at the same time. I don't expect these three clubs to fall off like Bradford but they will go through a stage like Saints have since about 2009, losing a lot of players and not being quite what they were.

Saints could be a good bet to move into pole position then, even Hull if they have some good recruitment could be back in the mix.

It's hard to look beyond that in terms of time horizons as you don't know what will happen and what young players will come through the ranks. But I don't reckon there will be long dynasties of success, it will be the bigger richer clubs that have the best infrastructure, finances and youth development (ie Saints, Leeds, Wire, Wigan and Hull) that will be probably sharing out the trophies over the next decade.

re reading this thread has made me even happier you lost today

Unlucky Mr Briers

Had to feel for him tonight. He clearly wanted it desperately and it was a little sad watching his candle flickering out. You have to wonder how many chances he'll get to be there again, his defending let his side down badly tonight and he's clearly at the limit physically where it will soon be too much for him.

I wonder how many beers he had today in the run up to the match...

Your a total idiot.