Hull Kingston Rovers

Starting from the top, our main strength, our board, has been strengthened further with the addition of Jamie Peacock. He will add some "football knowledge" that was possibly lacking. His presence will hopefully also add professionalism and intensity. He will also be there to share knowledge with our coach, and will hopefully bring more out of him.

On the field, moving Ken Sio from wing to full back will be a big move for us. It will see him have more of the ball, and as one of our better players, that can only be a benefit. It also means we have Dixons searing pace on the wing. Centre looks a weakness in the squad to me, with Thornley set to hold down one place, with the other going to Minns or Salter. It will hardly fill other teams with dread.

Our success (or not) revolves around 6 & 7. IF we keep Kelly and Campese fit all season then we could finish as high as 7th, but that is a big IF. I believe that they are arguably the best duo in the comp.

Our pack will need major improvement on last season, however I am a big fan of Dane Tilse and think he will go well. Add to that Mitch Allgood, who will be like a new signing, and Rob Mulhern, who I think could be a revelation this season, we are well stocked on props. Its the back row where we are light, and one signing would give us much better depth. we will benefit from having Maurice Blair consistently playing there, as he showed last year that left second row is by far his best position.

All being well, I think 7th is realistic, anything else will be a bonus. Same home form, and a few more away wins and I think most fans will be happy.

You argue a good case.



What would be considered a successful season for Wakey, then? I would have thought top half of the table?

Well, if been competitive for the first twenty three games, not finishing bottom & finishing in the top three of the middle eights is classed as success, I’ll go with the O.P’s eulogy.

But if I was a Leeds fan I’d expect no less than winning the WCC, followed by the domestic treble & Danny McGuire winning SPOTY.

Pfft. We laugh in the face of God and his pathetic attempts to derail our season. Who are ya?! Who are ya?!

For me success would be getting off th bottom of the table as I alluded to in the opening post.

A top 8 finish would be an amazing turnaround in one season but I'd just be happy not to be embarrassed by poor performances

Leeds:

It's easy to look at leeds and say that they've lost 3 legends and won the treble last season, so all down hill from here on in. However Leeds still have one of the best backlines in super league, creative spark in the middle of the pitch combining experience (mcguire, burrow) with youth (sutcliffe, ward, lilley) and of course again a strong pack which in actual fact is more youthful than in previous seasons. .

Let's not forget as well, that at the end of last season leeds managed to complete the hardest lap of the treble with their first choice hooker, sutcliffe and ward out injured, all of whom had excellent seasons and were key to leeds fantastic early season form.

Then we factor in that going into this season leeds had only 3 players on international duty at the end of last season, which means the majority of the squad have had chance to refresh themselves and have a thorough pre-season.

In terms of leeds competition, obviously wigan have tomkins back who should improve them, and saints should be stronger for Cunningham getting his first ever season as head coach done. Huddersfield, warrington et al will all be in around the action, but no one screams out as especially superior to leeds.

Leeds have the chance of 4 trophies next season (WCC, CC, SL, LLS) They won't win the treble but they have a good chance of winning one of the those trophies this season and will be in the mix at the end of the season.

The difficulty for Leeds fans now might not so much be convincing others that you'll be strong, more that it shouldn't just be taken for granted and is worthy of excitement and interest. Like Wigan in the late 1980s and early 1990s - a great team whose fantastic achievements started to feel routine after a while. In football too, with Liverpool when I was a kid and then Ferguson's Manchester United. The level of success they had weirdly diminished its impact. In the longer term, it starts to look remarkable again, but that requires a period of being a bit rubbish.
So, yeah, to have been truly great Leeds need to start losing more frequently. Unfortunately for Leeds fans, I see no prospect of that in 2016, dooming you to another season of the same old stuff, meandering to a familiar conclusion at Old Trafford.

Saints might stand a chance of top four place if they ignore Cunningham's tactics of three drives and a rubbish kick.

Think we might find a big improvement in 4 drives then a moderate kick. Hopefully Cunningham will have some game plans this season.

Widnes - We've already been written-off by most as having no-chance of even making the top 8.
We've strengthened the back-line and the second row, still a bit light at prop and the overall squad is a bit small for my liking.
But if we don't have the injuries we had last season and can keep our play makers on the pitch for the majority of the season then we may surprise a few and could finish anywhere up to 6th.

You definitely won't finish in the top 8 never mind finishing as high as 6th
See you in the middle 8's