FORUMS > The Virtual Terrace > Predictions 2017 |
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Club Captain | 15 | |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Oct 2016 | 8 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Jun 2017 | Jan 2017 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
75443_1475716520.jpg :d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_75443.jpg |
|
| I'll go for:
Prediction Range
1 Wigan 1st - 3rd
2 Warrington 1st - 3rd
3 Hull 2nd - 4th
4 Saints 2nd - 4th
5 Catalans 4th-8th
6 Leeds 4th-8th
7 Cas 5th-9th
8 Widnes 6th-10th
9 Salford 6th-11th
10 Wakefield 7th-11th
11 Huddersfield 8th-12th
12 Leigh 9th-12th
Wigan or Warrington for LLS
Wigan GF winners
Hull cup winners
Salford most difficult to predict. On paper, easily top 8, but in practice?
Leigh looks a bit tight, but looking at the fixtures they will be lucky to get any points from their first 5 games and losing/winning is a habit.
Middle 8s from Championship:
Hull KR
London
Featherstone
Toulouse
Leigh to beat HKR in MPG
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Player Coach | 1480 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jul 2006 | 18 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Jan 2024 | Apr 2023 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
26718_1373547596.jpg :d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_26718.jpg |
|
| Quote: Mr. Zucchini Head "I know the season didn't get off to the best of starts with the Ferres saga and a few injuries in the first few weeks, then obviously there was Luke Robinson's retirement. But you had it easy with injuries compared to a lot of teams, and it can't really be used as an excuse for finishing where you did. Cas, as an example, were riddled with injuries all year, but remained competitive throughout. Paul Anderson leaving was because of your poor form, not a contributor to it.
If I'm wrong though tell me why, rather than the cryptic messages.'"
There's no denying we were abysmal last year, but I don't know how much clearer an injury crisis could be than signing Jamie Foster, Jordan Tansy and Gene Ormsby.
From memory I think our maximum out injured was about 10 + 2 permanent in robinson and ferres.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Chairman | 31082 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Mar 2002 | 23 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Aug 2024 | Sep 2019 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
: |
|
| Huddersfield lost Robinson pre season plus of course Ferres
Huby missed the first few weeks of competition through injury and copped a few more injuries through the year
Dan Smith made it to week 4 then missed the rest of the season
Rapira missed a month at our most crucial period due to injury
Crabtree missed a stack of games due to injury
Grix missed 75% of the season
Off field the conditioning coach was disastrous, plus the Ferres debacle
Our season was littered with injury issues, awful coaching and off field problems - to suggest otherwise shows a staggering bias or a complete lack of insight
2015 we finished top 4 with a near identical team
2016 was a disaster
2017 the team is still capable of top 4, there's a new coach, new signings, dead wood let go, long term injuries back and a real sense of self belief in the club again
The giants lost most of their games by a score or two, thats a fine line and a minor improvement sees us top 6
Bottom 4 in no order
Leigh
Wakey
Salford
Widnes
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Star | 17952 | |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Apr 2011 | 13 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Sep 2024 | Sep 2024 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
simpsons/simp006.gif :simpsons/simp006.gif |
|
| Here goes:
Wigan
Warrington
Hull FC
Saints
Castleford
Leeds
Catalan
Huddersfield
Wakefield
Widnes
Salford
Leigh
KR & Leigh in the MPG
|
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Player Coach | 6293 | |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jan 2007 | 18 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Oct 2024 | Aug 2024 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
31007_1580947500.jpg EVENTUALLY, WE'LL WIN SOMETHING, ,MAYBE, IF I'M STILL ALIVE THEN:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_31007.jpg |
|
| I generally agree with the first post although not sure he's right about my team, Wakey. The season ended with the semi-final as we'd secured safety from a very competitive middle 8's. We'll probably go in patches, but I think we'll be competitive. We have a habit of surprising people and have finished in the top eight three times as often as we've finished bottom. Not the greatest addition to a trophy cabinet, but seeing as though we are predicted to be bottom every single year it's not bad going.
The interesting thing next year could be that 6 to 12 could be a lot closer, with all positions in it determined quite late.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Star | 11412 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Sep 2010 | 14 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Feb 2021 | Jul 2019 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
"The Golden Generation finally has its Golden Fleece! They have Wembley Cup Final winners medals to add to their collection."
23/08/2014: |
|
| Think there's a few that are tricky to predict next year.
Leeds will improve, just how much is tricky to say. They have a tough opening 4 games and how many points they get from them will set the tone.
Leigh, recruiting well and showed they can beat SL opposition in the Middle 8's. Just how well and quickly they settle into weekly contests against SL opposition is an unknown.
Huddersfield. Still got most of the squad that got into top 4 spots for a number of years. The question mark for me is Rick Stone. He managed to just scrape them over the line to safety, not sure yet how good he'll be for them over the course of a full new season.
Salford as a few have mentioned. Got good players to make the Top 8 but you feel they're never too far away from some drama centred around Koukash.
Hull. Won the cup and fell just short in the league. Got the team to do it again just a question of them having the focus and mindset to back up a successful season with another one. Consistency week upon week in a single season is one thing, consistency season upon season is another thing and only a few of the usual suspects achieve that.
|
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Player Coach | 6293 | |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jan 2007 | 18 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Oct 2024 | Aug 2024 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
31007_1580947500.jpg EVENTUALLY, WE'LL WIN SOMETHING, ,MAYBE, IF I'M STILL ALIVE THEN:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_31007.jpg |
|
| Quote: ThePrinter "Think there's a few that are tricky to predict next year.
Leeds will improve, just how much is tricky to say. They have a tough opening 4 games and how many points they get from them will set the tone.
Leigh, recruiting well and showed they can beat SL opposition in the Middle 8's. Just how well and quickly they settle into weekly contests against SL opposition is an unknown.
Huddersfield. Still got most of the squad that got into top 4 spots for a number of years. The question mark for me is Rick Stone. He managed to just scrape them over the line to safety, not sure yet how good he'll be for them over the course of a full new season.
Salford as a few have mentioned. Got good players to make the Top 8 but you feel they're never too far away from some drama centred around Koukash.
Hull. Won the cup and fell just short in the league. Got the team to do it again just a question of them having the focus and mindset to back up a successful season with another one. Consistency week upon week in a single season is one thing, consistency season upon season is another thing and only a few of the usual suspects achieve that.'"
Not so sure about Leigh. They made it into the top flight off the back of a team of ageing players enjoying their last hurrah after a season that was less taxing than that of the opposition, some of whom ended up there after being battered and bruised. Not sure how that roster will cope with the weekly rigours of the top flight. Huddersfield and Hull KR ended up there because they were physically depleted.
|
|
|
| Quote: William Eve "I predict it'll be another SL season of playing standards continuing to slide, along with attendances.
Wigan to win the WCC against Cronulla in a tight affair. Warrington will lose to Brisbane.
Only Wigan, St Helens or Leeds will be champions, though it wouldn't surprise me if Leeds are Whipping Boy SL rabble again.
Warrington and Hull will pretend they can become champions.
The rest are Whipping Boy SL rabble, though Cas at least will possibly overachieve and they'll definitely entertain.
Wakefield will not finish last.
And Bradford will enter administration again.
And again.
The CC will continue to underwhelm and embarrass the sport at Wembley with loads of empty seats on show along with the infamous ring of indifference. The RFL will still announce an official attendance of around 75K even though we all know it's closer to 50K.
There will be a mid-season Test against erm... France. Maybe.
Tragic Weekend will be another huge hit among season ticketed fans of Stupor League who get to pay £20 for six games, though a significant number will only watch their own club game. RFL announce a record attendance again claiming the concept is a roaring success. There shall be no scrutiny of their claims by any of the nodding-dog RL publications, as per usual. Nobody else will care, or even know of its existence.
England will fly home early from the RLWC exiting at the semi finals stage or possibly even earlier. Fans will blame Aussie refs if appointed or English refs if appointed for sucking up to the Aussies.
A few weeks of internal soul searching shall ensue about the future of the game which shall then be forgotten about by the beginning of December.'"
Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Player Coach | 6293 | |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jan 2007 | 18 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Oct 2024 | Aug 2024 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
31007_1580947500.jpg EVENTUALLY, WE'LL WIN SOMETHING, ,MAYBE, IF I'M STILL ALIVE THEN:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_31007.jpg |
|
| Quote: Karen "Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!!!
To be fair, he is consistent in his continual running down of the game. I'd have thought he'd have found a different sport by now, but I applaud his determination to be persistently negative.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Star | 11895 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Apr 2010 | 14 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Oct 2024 | Oct 2024 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
White Backgrounds/Statler.gif :White Backgrounds/Statler.gif |
|
| Quote: Karen "Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!!!
He's a got a fair point though - apart from Wigan beating Cronulla. That's just daft.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Player Coach | 12097 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jan 2006 | 19 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Oct 2024 | Sep 2024 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
: |
|
| Thanks for a reasoned reply this time Code13.
I'm not saying you didn't have injuries, of course you did, but I still maintain that other teams with arguably less talented squads had it worse yet performed much better. As for the conditioning team, I wouldn't know about that, was it a new team to the one that had seen you be successful in previous years?
Maybe with a good preseason and a better coaching staff around him Rick Stone will get you firing again, who knows? But if I had to put my money one way or another, I'd put it on you being in the middle 8's again.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
Club Coach | 8487 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jan 2005 | 20 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Feb 2020 | Oct 2019 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
12205_1307822450.png [img:32iwt8q2]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/fullyitfc/cas-4-1.jpg[/img:32iwt8q2]:d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_12205.png |
|
| Leeds will improve but after looking at recruitment I'm struggling to see how they will improve significantly to challenge the top 4. Ditto Huddersfield. It's going to be interesting to see the bottom half this season as it could be a real battle to avoid the dread middle eights.
1. Wigan
2. St Helens
3. Warrington
4. Hull
5. Castleford
6. Catalan
7. Leeds
8. Wakefield
9. Salford
10. Huddersfield
11. Widnes
12. Leigh
In reality, I foresee those bottom 6 being really close and any one of them could finish in the top eight. Similarly, I think Cas will push for the top 4 but time will tell whether we can overcome the four sides I've listed, who all look really strong again.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Board Member | 15309 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jun 2002 | 22 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Sep 2020 | Apr 2017 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
2115.jpg [img:1ucbtp34]http://i62.tinypic.com/2hs0qkg.jpg[/img:1ucbtp34]
[color=#BF0000:1ucbtp34]the [size=100:1ucbtp34]C[/size:1ucbtp34]laret [size=100:1ucbtp34]A[/size:1ucbtp34]nd [size=100:1ucbtp34]G[/size:1ucbtp34]old [size=100:1ucbtp34]M[/size:1ucbtp34]achine is ready to roll[/color:1ucbtp34]
sunday September 1st 2013, when a dream became a reality!!:2115.jpg |
|
| Quote: Mr. Zucchini Head "I know the season didn't get off to the best of starts with the Ferres saga and a few injuries in the first few weeks, then obviously there was Luke Robinson's retirement. But you had it easy with injuries compared to a lot of teams, and it can't really be used as an excuse for finishing where you did. Cas, as an example, were riddled with injuries all year, but remained competitive throughout. Paul Anderson leaving was because of your poor form, not a contributor to it.
If I'm wrong though tell me why, rather than the cryptic messages.'"
I'm not making excuses, we finished where we did because ultimately we weren't good enough.
But at the beginning of the season, we were disrupted by various things, one of our Vice captains leaves due to a misdemeanour, which caused a rift throughout the squad, and various players (allegedly) coming to blows over it, the rift wasn't healed until the end of middle 8's (again,allegedly).
Our other Vice Captain retires days before the season starts, we then lose 4 of our most experienced and influential players within the first 3 weeks of the season through injury and other misdemeanours ( apparently) and our captain is stripped of the armband which causes more friction and rifts within the squad.
So within 3 weeks of the start of the season we have lost our entire leadership group and 3 more vastly experienced players, we then have to scrat around for retired players and players frozen out at supposed inferior teams on loan and call up 3 or 4 academy lads who have never even been near the first team environment.
In the first 9 games we had 6 different half back combinations, 7 different full backs, 6 different left sides, only Leroy and Jerry kept the same positions for the first 10 weeks of the season, by which time, having lost a number of close games, we possibly would have won with more know how and experience, confidence is completely shot to pieces and we would never get it back.
We also played some very poor stuff at times, but at times we were unlucky in games and sometimes wrong options and individual errors cost us dearly.
We also played well at times and showed glimpses of what we are capable of, I'm not saying we were too good to finish bottom, because the results don't lie, but we were nowhere near as bad as what people think we were, basically, the injuries and disruptions in the first few weeks of the season cost us in the end.
Sorry for the long winded way round, but i have tried to get my point(s) across.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Star | 11412 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Sep 2010 | 14 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Feb 2021 | Jul 2019 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
"The Golden Generation finally has its Golden Fleece! They have Wembley Cup Final winners medals to add to their collection."
23/08/2014: |
|
| Quote: Fully "In reality, I foresee those bottom 6 being really close and any one of them could finish in the top eight. Similarly, I think Cas will push for the top 4 but time will tell whether we can overcome the four sides I've listed, who all look really strong again.'"
For me Cas need to improve their defence before taking the next step into the top 4. 2nd most points conceded last year after the regular 23 rounds and roughly around 200 points more than the top 3.
As much as it's good to watch them ball in hand, when it comes to silverware you need a tighter defence, just look at the scorelines of this seasons two finals....12-10 & 12-6.
|
|
|
|
Rank | Posts | Team |
International Star | 4255 | No Team Selected |
Joined | Service | Reputation |
Jan 2013 | 12 years | |
Online | Last Post | Last Page |
Sep 2019 | Aug 2019 | LINK |
Milestone Posts |
|
Milestone Years |
|
Location |
|
Signature |
69715_1406814004.jpg :d7dc4b20b2c2dd7b76ac6eac29d5604e_69715.jpg |
|
| We will win the GF & CC.
|
|
|
|
|
|