With regards to Kevin Penny, will he actually play?

From a neutral point of view, the thought of him dislodging Riley or Monaghan from either wing spot seems a tad bizarre.

You could say the same about Rhys Williams. The coaching opinion must be that Penny is viewed as a better option than Williams as a backup winger, and perhaps even to push Riley for his spot. We can only wait and see.

I'd go along with most of what Sally said - Its going to take one hell of a coaching and man-management performance from Tony Smith to get this squad to seriously challenge for honours in 2014.

The one area we are seriously lacking in is that of any natural leaders - Michael Monaghan, probably the most obvious candidate, is a pale shadow of his former self, to the extent that I'm still shocked he got a new deal, especially as we couldn't find space to accommodate Gareth Carvell, who was close to his very best in the second half of last season.

If we are being honest, this season is make or break for Richie Myler - Yes, he's been a good performer for us since his arrival, but this year is when he truly has to step up and lead. No longer can he afford to play second fiddle and let the likes of Briers or Monaghan lead us around the park. He has to be able to show that he can dictate a game and produce moments of magic that can be the difference between winning and losing.

With this in mind, I'd really like Tony Smith to give Myler the captaincy - A little extra responsibility might be the thing that finally turns Myler into the rounded half back that we have wanted him to be, ever since we signed him.... For four years he has had more senior players to 'hide' behind, now is the time he should step up and become the senior player for others to follow.... We invested a lot of money in him, with the moment that Briers retired and Richie being able to take over, being heavily in mind - That moment has arrived and its upto Myler to prove he can become the irreplaceable player that many believed Briers was.

I'd go with Grix as Captain and Ratchford as vice Captain either way around

I like Ditas idea of making Richie Captain, I also think Micheal would make a good Captain, but as with Mickey H he will only be on the field for half the game.

As outsiders for the job how about Hilly or Trent?

right then that's that settled then We don't expect to win anything.
Neither do the majority on the Leeds forum.
The Saints Fans think its their year
the pie eaters are too upset at being labelled outsiders to comment on anyone else.
and no other forum is talking about league predictions other than where they each expect to finish.

so I can only assume the "It's always your year chant will stop"........?

Its never really been our fans talking us up its the media that likes to run the story "this will be the year for Warrington" hence everyone says Wire think every year is year of the Wolf.

I also enjoy reading the Leeds forum every year where their fans spend 6 months of the season calling for Brian McDermott to be sacked and saying the club is in turmoil only to then change their tune to "everyone has written us off but now we're gonna make the critics eat their words"

They're not called Whinos for nowt

I do find it intriguing that ms. cinnamon thinks we are on the outside looking in. A brief summation of how I see things:

St Helens will be stronger for the simple reason they have a recognised, organising halfback with a good kicking game in Walsh. Their biggest issue is still Hohaia. His ability to hurt Saints on last tackle plays is relentless. pressurise Walsh on last tackle kicks and if the ball ends up in Hohaia's or Wilkins' hands, well you know. Oh yes, getting rid of Perry is another bonus and in replacing him with Amor will certainly help.

Wigan not sure how they will cope with the loss of Tomkins. Bowen is a fine fullback, excellent with ball in hand, akin to Hodgson in that respect. What he won't do is have defences standing off him a la Tomkins, giving the threequarters room to work with. Very intrigued as to how they are going to integrate Bowen into their attacking structure. Bit of an unknown quantum, really.

Leeds have strengthened their potency in the threequarters with the addition of Briscoe, but, in reality their backline has always been arguably strongest in SL. Their only obvious issue is the front row. The Goliath that is Peacock, and Leuluai with a few more miles on the clock, can they reach their previous high standards?

Huddersfield will be better for a season of consolidation. Minimal squad turnover, kept their core players who have more play-off experience. Could be a CC dark horse for mine.

Now to ourselves. We have had a bit of an anti-Smith close season in respect of the high churn of players. It is even more unusual when you consider the quantity of experience, as well as the pivotal positions that have left. The player we will miss the least on the pitch is Morley, his games last season where quite minimal relative to seasons past. The player we will miss most off the pitch will be Morley. His work ethic in training is always mentioned by his peers. The player we will miss the most on the pitch is Briers, not so much the week-to-week games, but the tight games that need the play that no other player on the field can see. Time for Myler to step-up, I just can't see him making the big step-up to completely replace Briers. It will be negated, to a degree, with Briers being on the coaching staff who can provide some specialist coaching to Myler. What we have done is replace our experience with younger players, who will bring more energy about them. Russell being a prime example. What has also happened with signing Russell and losing Hodgson is the loss of that extra ball player. I think this will see us change our approach in attack with Grix being the extra ball player at loose forward, which should mean us going wide, early, less often. All that said, we still have Smith, without peers in SL.

All-in-all I can't see us being on the outer, for the simple reason, there is no side head and shoulders above the others. Will we miss out on silverware; maybe. Will we be amongst it; definitely.

I think a Bridge/Penny combo could be amazing if they get it right.

Watching England in the Championship, there is no reason why he won't be another Hill.

Matty Russell could be just the thing me need. His ball in hand is top notch. Just needs more confidence under the high ball.


Penny could be a secret weapon now he seem to have learnt how to catch. His performance at Widnes was very good and to say he looked enthusiastic is the understatement of the year

I might have a laugh at that post if I could understand it.

I honestly don't see what's so hilarious. If they both played to the ability they can I think it would be a good Centre/Wing combination

I think you mean Atkins/Penny and not Bridge/Penny