Well, last season we stank the place out, week after week, so you’d have to hope this year will be better. I’m predicting that we will scrape into the playoffs.
However, I should point out that some of my previous predictions have included John Selwyn Gummer would become Prime Minister and Blazing Squad would be bigger than the Beatles. So…..

Round one, job done. A potential opening day banana skin avoided against a very tough and resilient Whitehaven side.

I felt at times it was a very stop start game where Whitehaven slowed down our progress and attack at various stages when we seemed to be getting a roll on. Clearly that was a tactic used by them to pause any momentum that we were making.

Defensively I thought we did very well, and their score came about after a dropped ball ended up back in their hands and they walked it in. Lilley and Butler were immense in defence and Holmes dealt with all the high balls well under pressure. Attacking wise, we had some good moments (Gill's second try) where we showed what we are capable of. We created plenty of chances in both halves but just lacked that final killer blow. Whitehaven also pulled off some great defensive play to stop us from scoring. Hopefully the clinical attacking play will come with time as the players continue to gel and combinations are more established. Blackmore also made some good yardage from inside our own half and never took a backwards step.

It was a massive shame to lose Walker so early into the game, but Holmes was outstanding at the back. I felt that he was also very good attacking the line and created some good breaks. A well-deserved MOTM performance. I also felt that Chester Butler was brilliant and seeing Lawrence do a full 80 mins in the pack was a great achievement. What a contrast to the puddings we had in the pack last year.

A game I felt we never really looked like losing and had control of from the early stages. Another big test coming up against the Knights a week on Monday. Perhaps we may even see the debut of Kevin Appo in York?

I think dddooommm has summed it up pretty well. I think the two missed friendlies showed as we looked a but undercooked. For a side that is pretty much newly put together, I don't think it was a bad performance.

Ref was awful and we ended up on the back of some tough calls which also stopped our momentum. Two tries disallowed and from where I was stood both looked fine, so will be interesting to look back at the replay.

Holmes looks a great addition, Rogers was immense in the pack, as was Lawrence. I also was very pleasantly surprised with Blackmore who was a handful coming out of our own half.

York had a disappointing start today. I work in York and a lot of their fans were pretty concerned with the squad, even before today's loss. Hopefully build on today's result and go get another two points next Monday.

What a change to see them win at home. I agree with what dddoommm is saying. I thought Lawrence, Holmes, Lilley and Thompson were outstanding. What a difference to last season. Early days but the effort and commitment put in was 100%.

Yep hence I said worst case 3 months
With Walkers history it's usually longer term .

First half was a bit of an arm wrestle but the middle hour of the game we were pretty dominant. Things then went a bit scrappy.

Holmes and Lilley stood out in the backs. Holmes's performance reminded me of Dave Watson. Losing Walker was a blow but Holmes looked assured under the high kicks and seemed to always beat the first man on the kick returns.

Thought Thompson, Lawrence, Rogers and Butler did well in the forwards.

Some negatives for me were the amount of errors we made. At one point in the first half we failed to complete a set 5 times in a row. We gave a few needless penalties away too. On the right side Arundal seemed a bit unsure of himself in defence. In attack he could've scored twice if he'd got a lower body position.

Attitude wise the side was unrecognisable from the end of last year. However, one swallow doesn't make a summer. York will be a tougher game.