To be honest last season was not SL standard either so what has changed?

What has changed is that we have stepped down a level and still not at the races. Send for Jamie Soward..................................

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

The weather was cold and drizzly but, actually, I thought the pitch held up quite well.

Absolutely horrific. I left after an hour.

Conditions were grim, driving rain, swirling wind and bitterly cold. Sheffield just had more grunt and used it effectively, they also completed their sets and defended stoutly.

We were just rubbish. The injuries didn't helped and probably spooked us a little bit, but there's enough experience and pedigree in the majority of our squad that we should be able to handle setbacks like that.

Nasso's distribution from dummy half was also utterly pedestrian.

Well at least that makes my decision as wether to go to Leigh or not so much easier

To sum up - it's back to normal, then.

We have been out-enthused in 5 of the last 6 halves of rugby. Pointless telling us what we already know, Joe Grima - fix it. We have a top-4 squad and that is where we should be.

I'm genuinely struggling with this. London were completely out of their depth in SL in 2014 and to a neutral eye seemed to lose many of your better players from last season to other SL clubs and most of your signings for this season were guys who weren't seen as first-grade material elsewhere and looked at best no better than those of many of the more aspirational Championship clubs. I think there's been a general over-estimation of the talent drop-off between lower-tier SL and upper-tier Championship - being a fringe player in a SL squad or NRL 2nd grader doesn't guarantee you'll be a standout in the Championship.

But do we actually have a top four squad in reality?
We have some good individuals, some overaged players with no championship experience and squad members again unproven at championship level, plus a small number with the experience. Being full-time does not mean its a given that we are better than part-time clubs who are proven at this level.
There is a total difference in the line up which played Sheffield two seasons ago and the Eagles drove that home emphatically yesterday.
The truth is the squad is wafer thin.
Older players and inexperienced players = Injuries!! and we have several years ahead finding our level in the Championship.
I'd sooner be here right now than in superleague, out of our depth and getting tonked EverY week.
Here, Broncos will win some, they will lose some, particularly away. The club still has a chance to rebuild, its good to get a reality check this early in the year. Recruitment is certainly difficult but the squad needs strengthening.

I'd be surprised if more than a couple of clubs in the Championship have as many SL/NRL appearances among their squad as ours does. Mathers, Naiqama, Williams, Dwyer, Lovegrove and Harrison are signings who played at a higher level than the Championship last year. Cordoba and Farrar have 100+ NRL appearances each. Slyney was comfortable in SL last year. That's the bulk of a team who have capitulated three times.

Add to that, Hellewell and Garside are established performers at this level; Dollapi and Wallace were establishing themselves in SL, neither getting found out.

Add to that, these fellas are in a full-time environment.

Now, I'm not saying that all these players will be standouts in the Championship but, taken together, they have a better RL pedigree than the Sheffield, Doncaster or Dewsbury teams (Championship mid table?) that they have so far surrendered to, to one degree or another. If these players fail to finish above all of those clubs, I don't think it unreasonable to say that they've failed. As someone else says, these players might "at best (be) no better than those of the more aspirational clubs" - which is all we are expecting!

I won't deny that there is undoubtedly a weakness in our halves - and Keyes/Thomas isn't the answer - but that doesn't explain the points leaked and the softness shown. If the losses had been 10-16, say, there would probably be little concern on these boards so early in the season. The concern is that our team is so readily capable of losing a half by 20-odd points and that the refrain that each defeat is a positive "wake-up call" has worn thin already.