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

No I mean Bridge and penny. I'd rather see penny replace Riley than Joel

Who plays centre to Joel?

Reasons to be cheerful;

1. TS has a pretty good track record at recruiting. I can't think of one of his Wire players that has really disappointed.

2. Briers and Morley only played in approximately half of our matches last year - we were already in transition in 2013. Yes, they will be missed in the decision making and marshalling side though.

3. We focus on a departing players strongest attributes when they retire, and think in terms of a direct replacement. We can not replace Briers, but a half decent coach will use the different strengths of his players, and adapt the play accordingly.

4. Whilst the top 5/6 teams are probably quite well matched, there is a gulf in ability to the next 7/8 teams. It is difficult to imagine us finishing below 5th. And look how close an unusually poor Saints side came to getting to another GF.

5. Both the CC and SL are knockout competitions. Any team in the top 5 on their day can beat any other team. Plus lady luck can also have a say -look what happened with Wigan in 2013, they had a bye to the CC final, then met a Hull side that thought they were the cast of 'comedy of errors'.


It will be a very different side next year, and I would agree that silverware is less likely. But we always knew that we would have to pay the price of a very stable squad at some point. Where I disagree with some of the other posts, is that I think the main price we are paying is 'uncertainty' rather than an uncompetitive side.

So what we're saying is we can't move two wingers and two centres about just to see what happens? Either way whatever we say on here won't make a blind bit of difference.

It's a forum for opinions, and in my opinion they would make a good partnership. I don't really seewhat the issue is.

Most are saying we won't do as well as we have in previous seasons. But the Bookies have us as favourites to win the League, the G/F & the CC.