It is interesting. Not really Because of the results but the other stuff that went in to them. There is a 7 league point swing between leeds and Cas but only a 36 points difference. Leeds managed to lose 8 games draw one and win only 4 but still had a points difference of -14, which is pretty unbelievable really. Wakefield have a 36 point worse points difference but got 4 points.

Generally this would point to this teams with small numbers + and - had a lot of close games, and there where you don't often find a club has long term better results, so there should be some reversion to the middle, so next year you would expect Leeds to win a few mor home games and Cas and Wakefield to lose a few more. That's not to say they will win or lose more in total, just those small margin games.

EIGHT
Saints
Wigan
Salford
Catalan
Warrington
Huddersfield
Leeds
Hull FC

BOTTOM FOUR
Castleford
Hull KR
Widnes
Wakefield

1. Warrington
2. Wigan
3. St Helens
4. Huddersfield
5. Leeds
6. Catalans
7. Castleford
8. Salford

Bottom 4 from
Hull KR
Widnes
Wakefield
Hull FC

Warrington - I think they will have a good year, made some good signings but for me they have a consistent backroom coaching staff in place. I think some people are placing too much emphasis on new signings rather than the coaches in place.

St Helens - See my point above. I gather Nathan Brown wasn't universally liked by the Saints fans but I think it might take time to get used to Cunningham/Long etc.

Wigan - Will be there or thereabouts, we all know they can play but maintaining their physical approach without losing discipline is their biggest problem.

Huddersfield - Will challenge but how long can they rely on Brough to call the shots?

Leeds - See above (but replace Brough with Sinfield/Peacock etc).

Catalans - Could finish higher if they sorted away form out. Which they won't. Just about unbeatable at home.

Castleford - Won't do as well, Clark is a big loss but I think we have better halfbacks this year, 7th will still be a good achievement. Cannot understand those tipping us to slip by 6/7 places though!

Salford - Will finish in the playoffs but will it be seen as an achievement by the Doc? Will he resist his usual outbursts? And has he put in a place a proper marketing team to **promote** the team or it is just him posting twitter rants again?

The bottom 4 is harder to call.

Wakefield constantly have that fighting spirit and I think will just avoid bottom (once again).

Widnes - Sorry Widnes fans but I have never been convinced by Betts, shown up badly in the big games last year (apart from the Playoff game).

And as for both Hull teams...for me it's one of the greatest mysteries in rugby league why they invest heavily in stadiums, playing squad etc, and then it's as if they have checked their pockets and realised they only have a couple of toffees, a bit of string and a pack of football stickers so thats the coaching budget sorted. I am sure in time Radford and Chester could become good coaches but I feel both would benefit from managing a team in the championship and then working up to a Super League job.

Wakefield might suprise a few this year well coached just see them in 8th

Probably a very fair assessment.

I have nothing against either Hull team btw, I just think they have everything else in place to do much better. Both are well supported teams and the fans deserve much better.

I'm not sure how we have made widespread chances, we have only signed about 5 players (which is pretty standard), we have only one loss from last season's squad and that is Heremia, other than that we are stronger in every department. Halfbacks in particularly are massively better, last season we had Rankin, Horne and Miller at halfs, this season Rankin, Pryce and Sneyd, the later two are big improvements on the 2014 halfbacks.

We also have some very talented young players who are year older will have benefited hugely from playing last year. Our backrow of Minichiello, Ellis and Westerman is as good as any other in SL apart from Wigan.

I certainly think we will improve on our 11th place finish, but not sure we will improve enough to make the top 8 though, with questions marks over the coach (although if we start badly I expect him to go).

I'd be shocked if we finished lower than last year.

I also think Rovers are stronger in most departments except for hooker, but agin have question marks over the coach and the fact they have made massive changes from last year.

I don't see how Hull have one of the best back rows in SL. Ellis and Minichiello are getting on and will be probably winding down this year. Westerman, from what I've seen, has been hit and miss.

Honestly last year Ellis was immense, I think retiring from international rugby did him a world of good and think he will continue his form like Peacock has done, MM was good in the games I saw last year and think he will well in SL. Westerman was excellent last year, our 2nd best player behind Ellis, one good thing Radford has gone is give him a traditional LF role and he really improved last year and looked like the player of his early Cas days.

we were definitely not woeful last season. only wigan really took us to the cleaners. a lot of games saw us lose narrowly by less than six points or so, a fact shown by the positive points difference we returned despite finishing well outside the 8. turning these narrow defeats into victories will be the key to our season, hence the recruitment of 2 new halves. whether it works or not is a whole new argument.

we also weren't woeful when we played at your place

Tis a shame, it appears you haven't taken your embarrassment from our little tête à tête particularly well.

Take solace from Aristotle - 'the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet'.

Evening.

Interesting that a few people are ripping Hull to come last.

Since we merged with Gateshead and became Hull FC again we have never ever been bottom of the table. Not even for one week.

Is it any wonder ? The latest deluded fools on your board haven't even figured out that Dan Sarginson didn't play against Mark Percival in the centres at Old Trafford and instead faced up against that renowned threequarter dynamo, Louie Macarthy-Scarsbrook all night once Flower committed his act of violence.

Let's not even discuss how brilliant the latest object of the deluded Wiganers' affections performed against LMS either. His crabbing all night at the Grand Final truly was a sight to behold. Who know, maybe if he learned how to run a centre's line and pass a ball, skills which Percival is already incredibly adept at, he may not result in running sideways when faced with a modicum of decent defence.

Wiganers - ancient and ing clueless since 1872.