Getting the monkey off our backs is the ultimate goal.

Not sure how Sandow leaving means top 4 is the goal now? Lets be honest he did next to nothing of value since he came back from injury, we looked much more steady with Gidley and Patton in the halves.

Success for me would be winning a trophy - well, Challenge Cup or Grand Final. League Leaders would be nice, but that without either of the other two would not be success. Making a final or the top 4 is NOT success.

Last year was a much better season than most expected, but to lose both finals is not success.

I'm staggered that 1 in 12 of us think making the top 4 is success.

Yeah, nearly as staggering as the 60% that have voted for winning the Grand Final as a MINIMUM definition of a successful season

It does not state minimum in the poll. But yes anything other than a GF win now is not going to satisfy the newcomer or those long term fans who have never seen it in their life time. e.g.) I was not comforted walking away at Old Trafford thinking "thank goodness we made the CC Final". The GF is the aim, it's been an actual and realistic ambition for the last 6-7 years.

The LLS would be a fine achievement if I was convinced that it is coveted by the other clubs as much as the retrospective coveting it gets from the club that wins it.

The OP stated " Since 2011 there has been much discussion on here about what constitutes a 'successful' season. For some, last year was our best in a long time, whilst for others it was a miserable failure.

So as pre-season approaches, what is the minimum requirement for Warrington to have a successful season next year? Will we be happy to play the role of Bridesmaid again, or does 2017 have to be the year we finally win the league?"

An interesting question, so close last season was it a success and what is the minimum as far as this season is concerned....winning the GF would be fantastic but it can't be the minimum surely?

I voted top 4 as a minimum. I hope that we obviously exceed my minimum benchmark as it doesn't match my expectations, a bit like a TOP Premier League Football Club looking to get to a 40pt safety target

Ah yes I didn't read the OP message. Ergo you are saying that success is top 4.

As a minimum ha ha

No worries, I'm with the majority and hope we do better than that, real success will be finally winning the GF. BTW the off season is already too long as far as I'm concerned, looking forward to next season

Entertaining RL, and not the turgid dross we've had served up, post Easter.

How can it be anything BUT a grand final win?

Top 4 is the starting point, nowhere near success. We should assume we'll make it. Wigan, St Helens, Leeds will be planning on making the GF, nothing less. So should we. We have been in three of the last five Grand Finals and four of the last eight Challenge Cup Finals (all but one of the Challenge Cup semi finals since 2009). Getting there is good, but again it's not success. We have to win a trophy for it to be a successful season.

Grand Final win. Anything else simply equals or falls below what we have achieved several times now over recent years.

A team that plays good rugby league, is in the hunt for trophies and continues to develop young players.

I am sure if we don't win the Grand Final there will be the usual bollsocks on here slagging off Tony Smith and saying we need a new coach - ANYONE - who can "take us that next level", and then if Smith does leave you can bet their faces would fall rapidly when they saw us clamouring over whether to get Steve McNamara, Paul Anderson, Daryl Powell, Denis Betts etc