St Helens

Same as last year pretty much bar the subs bench. Lewis Dodd will get game time against the lesser teams

My guess at how Wigan will line up against Warrington in round 1 (who I think he will pick, not necessarily who I would pick)

FB 6 French
RW 2 Marshall
RC 1 Hardaker
LC 23 Bibby
LW 5 J.Burgess
SO 31 Hastings
SH 7 Leuluai
P 14 Flower
H 9 Powell
P 10 G.Burgess
SR 11 Isa
SR 12 Farrell
LF 13 O'Loughlin

S 8 Clubb
S 15 Greenwood
S 16 Smithies
S 22 Clark

Injured - Gildart, Manfredi

Only just missing out - Hankinson, Bullock, Partington

1 Goulding
2 Mcgilvary
3 Turner
4 Wardle Jake
5 Macintosh
6 Gaskell
7 Sezer
8 Matagi
9 O Brian
10 Gavet
11 Edwards
12 Wardle Joe
13 Lawrence

14 Taai
15 English
16 Murphy
17 Russell/Holmes

This is not counting the long term injured trio of Cudjoe,Uate and Clough.

More than a few people are tipping you for relegation but I don't think that's a bad side.

Very competitive in what, the championship? I cannot see you surviving again this time around however I hope you do as that is probably the only ground I will not visit...

Well thankfully no one here as to visit Widnes anytime soon....

Yep I reckon we would be very competitive in the Championship, alas we don't play in it....... tell us all, what's it like?

The silverware hunting Catalans team will be stacked with creative talent in 2020;

[iSamuel Tomkins

Lewis Tierney, David Mead, Samisoni Langi, Fouad Yaha,

James Maloney
Joshua Drinkwater

Jason Baitieri,
Benjamin Garcia, Benjamin Jullien
Remi Casty, Michael McIlorum, Samuel Moa
[/i
InterchangeJulien Bousquet, Mickael Simon, Samuel Kasiano, Matthew Whitley[/i

Reserves: Lucas Albert, Mickael Goudemand, Arthur Romano, Antoni Maria, Alrix da Costa, Paul Seguier, Thomas Davies, Arthur Mourge.

This is a very strong team -- highlighted by a brilliant spine and a strong pack -- that could well be facing St Helens at Old Trafford in October.

I expect many of these players to feature in the RFL's 2020 Dream Team.

Macintosh on the wing sounds like a good idea. He gets shown up too much at full back but could have a real impact out wide. Goulding and Sezer are both good signings.

The Giants are probably still lower table but that team should be good enough to finish above Hull KR.

I have an odd feeling about Wakefield this year. After being, unfairly, tipped for relegation in previous seasons they could go either way this year. After a flat finish in 2019, if they continue to have injury issues with key players they could find themselves in trouble. Chris Chester is my tip for first coach to be sacked.

Saints, assuming Matty Lees is not ready yet...

#1 Lachlan Coote
#21 Matty Costello (Tommy Makinson out injured)
#3 Kevin Naiqama
#4 Mark Percival
#5 Regan Grace
#6 Theo Fages
#7 Jonny Lomax
#8 Alex Walmsley
#21 Aaron Smith (James Roby out injured)
#10 Luke Thompson
#11 Zeb Taia
#17 Dominique Peyroux
#15 Morgan Knowles

#13 Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook
#16 Kyle Amor
#17 Jack Ashworth
#20 James Bentley

There is a concern that our new Aussie coach will put Paulo back into the side, maybe instead of Bentley. This will be an early warning sign.

Going through the season we have a few players getting old Taia, Amor, LMS who will need phasing out.

FB Alex Walker
LW: Tom Johnstone
C: Bill Tupou
C: Reece Lyne
RW:Ben Jones Bishop (Think Hampshire will start season as BJB injured)

SO: Jacob Miller
SH: Danny Brough

PR: David Fifita
HK: Josh Wood/Kyle Wood in spells
PR: Chris Green
SR: Kelepi Tanginoa
SR: Matty Ashurst
LF: Tinirau Arona
======
Joe Westerman
James Batchelor/Jay Pitts
Josh/Kyle Wood
Craig Kopczak

I think thats a good side to be fair. If we can avoid the kind of injuries we had last year then I think we're well away from relegation.

Looking at these teams I am more and more confident that Hull have as good a squad as anyone this year. There are plenty of handy looking teams, but everyone has one or two weaker spots. Even Saints on paper don't fill me with dread. If we had a coach that I had a bit more faith in then I would really fancy us this year. Unfortunately I can see it being a real missed opportunity.

Bookmarked

This post crops up ever year. Hull fc fans claiming they have the best squad and no one else comes close only for them to achieve absolutely nothing and end up mid table