Well they have suggested 15,000 free kids season tickets have been given out.

A lot of clubs count season ticket holders regardless of whether they turn up or not. I look forward to 18,500 being announced on Sunday… I might get there earlier so I don’t lose my regular standing spot.

Going for a record crowd in January at Odsal is certainly a bold move. At the moment the forecast doesn't look so bad but we all know about the micro-climate.

Dunning is now saying it's likely Lawrence will play which is good news. No sign of Appo's visa yet. The word "phoenix" keeps springing to mind for some reason

Don't worry, I've taken many pinches of salt in the last 10+ years.

If we're expecting a big crowd on Sunday I hope the club will open a few more turnstiles than they usually do. It's really frustrating to turn up to massive queues and only 2 turnstiles open. That's a great way to p*ss people off before the season has even started.

I was just going to enter pedant mode too!

Yes, I have since seen the 15k figure - I had 5k in my head for some reason. Well it remains to be seen how many actually use the ticket but I would guess the majority won't. So to count those would be farcical.

I did actually ask this of the club when I got my season ticket this morning. They can only count those season tickets who’ve booked on, apparently that figure is around 2000 from the 15000

2000 season tickets after all the poop over the last ten years is still some feat. Looking forward to freezing mi thruppennies off on Sunday. First time in ages I've looked forward to the opening game!

Don't forget your floor wipes and kitchen roll if you are in the stands! Don't want those shiny new white jerseys stained red so soon...

I've been to the last two home games against Haven and came away either disgusted or dejected both times. So I'm afraid I won't be coming to this one. They are entitled to think they've got us sussed out, but I sincerely hope a cultural change will see us send them back home with nowt this time.

Agree Pumpety I went to last years Haven game and came away at Halftime.. The first time since 1993 I have left early.
Took turd to a new level. hopefully we give them one in the eye for that as their supporters infront of us were very vocal rubbing salt in the wounds.

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…..

That final game against them we had no spine in the side in more ways than one. I've a feeling that's changed but we've had good pre-seasons before that have come to nothing (last year was one). I want to see how we go on a freezing wet day at Odsal before making any bold predictions. Remember last year we smashed Dewsbury away and all looked good only to follow it up with an awful performance at home to Sheffield. It was the Sheffield game that set the standard unfortunately.

Agreed. Whilst not taking Whitehaven likely, I think it will be the York game where we truly see if anythings changed. If we beat Haven then stink the place out against York then its exactly the same as last year with Dewsbury/Sheffield.

First let's start with Whitehaven and see how we go when the going gets tough.