We can beat anybody, but we need to have see consistent results and not just one offs. That will be up to the coaching staff to get that out of them.

Who would have thought Oldham would have turned KR over, Dews over us, Toulouse and Leigh.

I do think people have to come down from the euphoria of actually having a club, and inject a bit of realism into our plight.

When Leon was on the RHP show the other night he said that this was by far the worst pre-season he'd had in 20 years, in fact it had been like having 'no pre season'. His assessment was that 'we are miles off' - by which I took to mean that the fitness levels, skills, set moves, conditioning etc were way, way short of where we'd expect to be at this point.

Some people seem to be expecting us to run HKR close and then start winning against Rochdale the following week. I just don't see that happening. I think HKR will - and, frankly, should - absolutely annihilate us, and I expect us to lose to Rochdale and Swinton in the games that follow.

Rochdale are a well-drilled unit who will have that early season fervour of a newly promoted team. They'll target the game at Odsal as a mini Cup Final, from their viewpoint, and I fully expect them to play out of their skins against 'former WCC winners the Bradford Bulls'. By contrast we have lost almost all of our better players, and any new players will need time to gel.

I hope that, should we still be on -12 after four of five games, people won't panic or - even worse - start turning on the team. It's going to take time. I expect Toovey to pull it round as the season progresses, but it won't happen in three or four weeks.

Agree with this, especially the bold bit bear in mind they went to Tolouse and won to get promoted, Tolouse had to have a second bite of the cherry

I agree with all that. People surely need to get their head around the unpalatable truth that as it stands we are probably as good as relegated. If we put the 150-0 loss at rovers behind us and nick a win against Rochdale then we can perhaps start to entertain a vague hope.

Added to that they have made some very shrewd signings for this level. On Swinton, if any of the lower clubs can challenge what you would now expect to be a top 5(KR,London,Batley,Fev, and Fax) I would expect it to be Swinton.

Edit: Probably should have said top 6 with Toulouse but it all depends if they can match their home form or somewhere near when away.

6-8 good signings will make a big difference. All new players will at least be fit as they will have been training elswhere.
We don't need big names. Look at when we got such as Pitts. A hand full of that quality + good coaching and great motivation and we should be able to put out a decent 17.
Expect relegation but cheer every win is my attitude.
I too think we need to get to within 5 points of 10th by the end of 23 rounds.
Then do a Wakey and bring in 2-3 quality players and win 4-5 of the play-offs.
We do have a chance and who knows, it could end up being a very interesting season.

150-0 come on, it wont be that one-way will it.

I thought it'd be nearer 148-2

I'm not sure if the Challenge Cup run has been factored in. Historically the Semi Final and Final has affected our performances and we could easily lose a couple the weeks before and after we paly those matches.

I've got to agree with those sentiments. I couldn't get to Hudders yesterday but by all accounts the players, staff and supporters did a magnificent job in the circumstances. I can't wait to go down Lawkholme Lane next Sunday to see how we tackle the Puddycats. That might give us a better idea of the road ahead of us.

Whilst I agree that Leon knows a damn site more about pro rugby than me it needs to be borne in mind that I don't think he has ever experienced life in the Championship so may not be upto speed with standards in a PT league.

Agree with this. 3-4 years ago it would have been a walk in the park for a FT team in the Champ. Different ball game now. It's hell of a lot more competitive nowadays!

Don't get me wrong, I know how hard a task we have in front of us. I was just suggesting that whilst this is Leon's worst pre-season he hasn't experienced CH football before and that most of the teams we will be fighting for survival with will not be full time. (Although at this stage I don't know how many of our players are. Come to think of it I don't even know WHO most of our players are.)

I know how hard it will be too, huge season ahead of us in terms of how our future looks. Yeah it's his worst but even so 3-4 years ago he could have had the worst pre-season ever but with a FT team it still would have been easy. But this year will be so difficult due to the reason you suggested. Survival. And we are bang smack in the middle of that :/

It amounts to pretty much the same thing, but in my view, managing to somehow remain solvent and surviving into a second year, given what we have lost already and the handicaps we play the season under, is all I'm looking for. Bonuses graciously accepted.

Still don't understand why we are on -12 points though. My understanding is that that is for pre-packs, buyouts, and phoenixes. Not for brand new entrants. The RFL decreed ANY new Bradford club WOULD have to play in the Championship but that given our non-existent state with a week to go to kickoff is surely a decree that was already worth MUCH more than -12 points.

Now the new team in the new club under the new management has to take pastings all season and suffer at the gates and financially to a sorry tune, whilst madly scrambling to get staff, sponsors, shirts, all the infrastructure, before the regrouping in C1 - where any sane person would agree we should be - can begin.


But, looking on the bright side, at least the RFL is paying our rent, mainainance and VAT deposit so we must still be their favourites.