I agree wrencat1873, I think the Championship sides will fade over the rounds of fixtures. Particularly 3rd and 4th from the Championship. Initially adrenaline and enthusiasm will die down once they find out how tough it is.

I'd really want Widnes at home (they don't travel well and it will queue another pointless rant from Betts). I'd also like Leigh at home as I think home advantage would be a big plus, although I think we'll be good enough to see them off come the match.

Hull v Hull KR in the 4th v 5th decider is a scenario I just can't see happening, not this year anyway.

The Hull thing wont happen.
The bottom 4 in SL will be (in reverse order) Wakefield, Widnes, Salford and one of the Hull clubs.
Widnes, without Brown could really struggle but, Salford, when Sheens starts to have some influence, could be quite strong in the 8's

The RFL's tag line "every minute matters" may actually start to be accurate, up to now it's been nonsense.

I was pleased to see Hull KR in the semi of the cup, and I was hoping for the same for Widnes for the same reason: it might disrupt their end of season. Wembley for Rovers would help us immensely. They'll suffer the week before and the week after and they are now missing Terry Campese. Albert Kelly is good, but a bit off the cuff. A bit like Rangi: if you can take him out of the game, you've got a fair chance.

Salford could do well. Widnes? Are they fading slightly? Will they miss Brown? Damn right.

What we can't do is blow a game against a Championship side. We need to snuff out their game in the first half and then compete for the second.

I have a feeling that we have got the timing right. Pita taking a four-week rest is timely. Whether it's right that we should survive after finishing so far behind the rest of the pack is a debate for the RFL. My view is that would be nonsense if the 9th place team went down because they ran out of decent personnel after putting in a proper stint in the regular season. We, on the other hand, could be the equivalent of the marathon runner who gets the bus for the first fifteen miles.

It's how the RFL wanted it though.

Very true Slugger. If we go down everyone else will not bat an eyelid and say we deserved it.

If a Hull club or Widnes go down people will be crying blue murder, saying what an injustice it is. Yet we've played per the rules as they are set out so we all know what we are getting into.

If Salford go down then crikey knows what loudmouth will have to say about it. He'll be spitting feathers as he'll want his marque player - are they allowed in the Championship?

Don't agree, I think Owen is coming into his own a bit this season - Fox was well past his sell by date when he left and I reckon we made the right call.

Who knew that Hall would be as bad as he has been as well? Mathers was very frustrating at FB and I think most were glad to see the back of him.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I think most of us were delighted at the signing of Hall two games into the season. However much like Mathers he struggles with the defensive side of his game so being full back at Wakefield was always going to be a challenge for him! Similarly with Locke, looks great in attack, few question marks remain over his defensive ability, however he did make a cracking cover tackle in the second half of Hull FC at home so he could be a great acquisition!

With Brian Smith at the helm I'm quietly confident we'll do what needs to be done in the 8's, but it wouldn't be Wakefield if we didn't do it the hard way so I'm not expecting plain sailing. If he can get the best out of the likes Tim Smith, Ali, Godinet etc then we should be playing SL next season!

we will be playing S L next season, I don't even expect us to do it the hard way .B Smiths the best thing to happen to the club for a long long time. He will prepare the players on an individual and team basis they will take the field fully up for it and with a game plan . Any team that's played us can expect a totally different game from our earlier meetings.
Our days of bobbling along are about to be put well and truly in the past. The days of turning up expecting a win may be a little off , but you can turn up knowing we will provide effort, guts, team spirit, and a see a well coached side taking the field. Im not sure that some just know what we have in B Smith, you can rest assured the player will .

I agree with you Lampy about Smith. I have no doubts about him.
I have a couple of doubts about a couple of players that may well scupper his plans.

I don't think it will be easy by any means. I can see us winning all of them and I can't see us losing al but there are a few hard games in there that could go either way and that could, when the pressure is on, land us in the playoff game, which would be tough going for anyone.

So the regular seasons over, and not a bad way to finish off .Only 5 teams have scored 20 points or more against Shudds all season. St Hel , Wigan, Leeds x2 Rovers, Wid.
The hard work now starts and B Smith needs to know his best starting 17. With a week off it gives some time for the new guys to bond and hopefully take up the gauntlet.
I still have a concern about the half back pairing and T smiths the problem for me .I know on his day he can swing things but I don't think he s the guts for a battle.
The club need to look at ways of encouraging fans through the gates for the 3 home games and make sure the place is rocking.
Come on Wakey our seasons about to start

Play like we did today and we will be OK. Also remember we only had one recognised half and then finished the last 20 mins with a second rower at stand off.

Looks like Brian Smith has finally started to turn it around.

However my real worry are the refs ,any more performances like the clown we had today and every game will be a lottery. Also well done Brian Smith for standing up and speaking out about the idiot who was in charge today.

Killed us in the 1st half,what a tanker he was.

It's pretty obvious that Sky/RFL/Councillor Box wants us relegated and replaced by the Leigh Thugs and there state of the art sports village which has been generously built for them so expect every referee in the next 7 games to penalise us to death. Expect Leigh away to be the first game and to be on TV with Trinity set up as sacrificial lambs. Don't underestimate the challenge, everyone is against us and sometimes even lady luck seems to kick us in the teeth eg Locke's injury. It will need a fantastic effort to finish in the top 3 but the one rating you can say is we have defied the odds many times before but we can only do this if every player gives 100 percent and plays for the shirt whatever there destination next season.