I think Widnes, Wakefield and Hull KR are looking favourites for the bottom 4 right now. I'm still not sure of the 4th team though. Salford might be in there again, but a full pre-season with Sheens at the helm might actually mean they scrape above someone else and make the top eight. Maybe Hull FC? They have a good squad on paper but Radford is clueless and their season could easily fall apart.

I would be worried if I was a KR fan. Battered by Hudds in a recent friendly, a handful of injuries already and they don't have any decent cover for Campese who currently has no return date from a long term injury. Plus I don't really rate Chester, so it could be a long season for them.

That sums it up nicely i think.

People keep saying they fear for Leigh because of the players they've signed, personally i fear for Salford should Tim Sheens walk away

I'd be surprised if Radford sees out the season in all honesty

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... ord_Bulls/ Jeez Ross is a miserable git these days isn't he? The club will be ecstatic about that article I'm sure!

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... ord_Bulls/ Jeez Ross is a miserable git these days isn't he? The club will be ecstatic about that article I'm sure!

2 reporters for the media day? I assume one was Ross himself? That's not so good.

This is where I stopped reading.

I suggest you start with actually looking at what happened in the playoffs in 2015. Once you have at least read the results, do give it some morethought.

A clue to start you off: We reached the MPG. We don't know exactly where Leigh finished as you couldn't see that far back from our position but it was not in front.

No Salford weren't exemplary last year but they finished in the top 3 of the Qualifiers which will more than do for me. Yes most of the players had a bad time at Salford but considering the number of players that couldn't get away from Salford quick enough last season it suggests there is something badly wrong with player welfare in Salford, something we seem to have been quite good at.

Hard to disagree with most of it though....

Meh. Some of it is a bit excessive I reckon.

I believe that we're stronger than in 2015 in every department apart from fullback and scrum half.

While chances of going up are very small that's due to the nature of the competition rather than our recruitment.

Leigh may have recruited a lot of big names the jury is well out on whether they will produce the goods.

Last season there were many tipping them to go up yet they blew it big style in the playoffs. Some of their recruits aren't the most reliable or consistent when the pressure is on. If they were they wouldn't be playing championship rugby.

I'm happier seeing us slide under the radar.

If Lowes has learnt his lesson and we share the workload this year we have a very decent chance of making the MPG...in my opinion.

It's pretty much the same thing I've been saying on here for a while to be honest. In fact I had to check that I wasn't Ross when I read that this morning. Turns out I'm not though.

I for one am glad he's not just the club's PR department though. He's a local reporter and if something bad needs saying or a less than "we're amazing" opinion needs offering, that's what he should do IMO. I don't disagree with anything he says in that article really.

I agree that we are significantly stronger in most parts of the team. We have unloaded the unnecessary fringe players and recruited players that Lowes knows a bit more about and probably rates more highly. I felt that good players became deskilled over the course of the season and often played at less than their capability and I see that being an issue for any good player moving down a level.
Leigh have recruited players with experience of playing at a higher level........We already had a team full of such players. However for the first 23 matches that's a bit like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
There is still little opportunity to gain neither the intensity nor the momentum required to hit the middle eights at the required level and that is the real challenge for Lowes and Rowley.

He got plenty from Jimmy last season - deserved or not.Assume he should be allowed to express opinions sometimes! Plus he is surely correct about scrum half.

With the exception of threequarters and props, have we actually improved anywhere else? We're arguably worse off at fullback. At least until Jacks signs and until we see him play, we're worse off in the halves. The hooking situation is exactly as it was last year, except without Conroy, so arguably worse. We may have brought a couple of extra back rowers in, but they're not likely to play when we're at full strength anyway, as there's nothing wrong with the existing combo of Olbi, Fergie, Addy & Pitts.

Wingers are better than we started off last season with, and Welham improved the centres. Much better options at prop after Sidlow & Clough. But other than that, I don't think we're stronger anywhere else. And we're either weaker or no different in the spine of the team which we struggled in last season too.

I'm not writing off this season by any stretch. I still think we may be there or thereabouts. But I do think the squad we have is no better than it was last year, whereas rival teams (Leigh and Wakefield especially) are stronger.

Not being miserable or anything, it's just being realistic. Which is what I think Ross is being in that article.

As you say as an outsider, an out of touch one at that, just how have Bradford fallen behind Leigh when the season hasn't yet started and whose to say their recruitment has ended.
Not sure how Marc Greens or James Lowes comments have anything to do with the forthcoming season, as for how Leigh's apparent high profile signings' fair, we can only wait and see, I seem to remember Leigh finish top last season only to make a spectacular embarrassment of themselves in the play off, so even if Bradford finish 20pts behind so long as they finish behind Leigh and get 4 home games then their attempt on SL will be on a par with Leigh's that's assuming the bottom 4 SL clubs don't get a say in it regarding promotion for one of them.

I think the most worrying part of the article is where he points out the low season ticket sales. Yes, some will be sold in the next 17 days but not thousands of them. I do think it is vital we go up this year or we may be stuck here for years - or until the RFL devise a new way to get some relegation and promotion actually working. What could do it with the RFL is if they see a few years where the same SL teams struggle and give nothing to their league and someone says "why not give Leigh and Bulls a go". Then, they may come up with a new plan. But until then we must show we are good enough for a return and not allow ourselves to dwindle into just another championship team.