, that's for sure. It's certainly going to be interesting in the off-season!

The way I see us for next season is, we won't be underdogs many times.

Gutted that in our 3rd Championship season, we are back to square one, rebuilding-wise, and so whatever the team does, it will get better over 2 or 3 full seasons (assuming we are still here - I take nothing for granted).

But, the issue we have at the moment is a mixture of pointless fixtures, new players, departing players, young debutants and lack of team cohesion due to so many new faces new systems and new coaching staff. So erratic performances will be the norm, as we have more changes to come. As Yoda might say, "settled carry on will we have not".

That said, those of us who go to games know what we ARE capable of, even if much of it is individual brilliance from especially the likes of Ethan, Dane and Kieren, and that something is BETTER than anything any team in this division can come up with, on attack. Including Leigh. When we click, it is awesome to watch. So I think no team will be looking forward to playing us and we will be favourites as the norm.

But we have on several occasions last season been bullied, and found short of the necessary desire. Including the desperate loss at Workington. You just have to get the mix of players right where that never happens.

With that in mind, I was very pleased with the performance of the pack yesterday, they dominated from start to finish and ultimately that is what destroyed poor Sheffield, and created the opportunities for the backs to run absolute riot. So my hope is that we can start the season with a big and ugly enough pack to be able to compete with the best and biggest, meanest packs in the division. If we can hold our own up front, then nobody - and I mean nobody - can come close to Rohan's firepower. People were at it yesterday dissing the opposition and making excuses, but we have put 80 points - EIGHTY points - on 2 opponents at Odsal in quick succession and that is a feat that can't be dismissed, however glass-half-empty you may be, but more importantly it was the class and style with which many of the tries were scored that is equally as impressive as the score itself (which with someone kicking the goals might even have been a century).

You don't score a whole bunch of tries at that level of quality by accident.

Oh, I totally agree we won't be underdogs that many times and we should be [as this year, Lol shoo-ins for the top four. My thoughts are really that we'll be underdogs in the games that matter, but obviously that depends on how well funded the relegated team[s is/are. As I said above somewhere, I regard [inot[/i being the favourite for promotion to be a positive, in that it may sharpen our attitude in other games.

Which games will we be underdogs in, though? There will not be as good a team as Leigh in next year's comp, so the way i see it, if I can rely on Rohan to assemble a hard enough pack (that Kirk is one big unit, and the lad from Keighley is bigger) so the backs get a chance to play, then we should be pretty mean, if unavoidably green.

I'd suggest both [if two come down of the SL sides would have stronger, on paper, squads than us. With the latest incarnation of the cap rules and sugar daddies in place, they would have no need to shed players when relegated [some, of course may want to leave anyway and it's always nearly impossible to keep 'pressed' men,and to be honest I'd say both Salford and HKR have better squads than Leigh and certainly far more expensively put together than us.

All that obviously assumes that both keep their respective fonts of money, though clearly that's not a given. I think London will also be ahead of us with the bookies given their form this year. I'm not dissing our squad. I suspect we'll do far better than many [especially outside the club expect, but I very much doubt we'll be favourites to be top or go up. As I said before, whilst it's going to be a very interesting winter break, I'm pretty cool with the idea of Salford and/or HKR taking our mantle as the, "big bad SL Giants" in the division. As for us, Knowing they have to play above themselves occasionally, rather than thinking, 'we should win anyway', may help to focus minds at Odsal.

Aren't you a bit rash in assuming that relegated clubs will just keep their existing squads? Is that realistic? May be more or less unrealistic to some extent depending who it is, but many claim if a team gets relegated all SL contracts cease. I should think at bare minimum the "best" players of a relegated club are in serious danger of being cherry picked and of the rest, any who can get a much bigger wage and offer to play in SL will surely be offski?

Then, the relegated club needs to factor in much reduced income, and finally the chances of financiers and sponsors reducing or even walking away.

I could see Rovers mirroring what happened to us very closely. They would have next year to try and get back up based on keeping a strong core of their squad. I wouldn't fancy their chances, and thereafter they stay down with us until the system changes. They don't have genuine wealth behind them just the same as us.

, with Sugar Daddy, needs to factor in, 'reduced income', in exactly the same way that the guy at Hudds factors in getting very little from gate receipts. In other words if he's prepared to fork out to cover it, then it makes no odds. So, whilst I'm far from, certain about anything, I think it's a good chance of working out that way.

So basically, at the whim of the guy with the chequebook, with the proviso he'll need to start writing bigger cheques. How it is that we can't ever find one of these guys is a mystery to me, even if Mr. Green undoubtedly is pumping in some measure of sugar, whatever he may publicly say.

Indeed.

You'd imagine a city the size of Bradford would have someone - but then you check out the demographics and realise it's a very small number of available people with the sort of money needed.

Yep. It's a £1m shortfall in central funding for the relegated club. So either a big pair of scissors for some serious cloth cutting, a bigger cheque from the chairman, or a mix of the 2.

how about this, If Leigh are found next season to have broken this seasons salary cap what happens then?