Including radford no doubt

I've some genuine hope for the new season. Like the balance of our squad. Like the requirement done. Coach has had a yr to bed in and like the progress the kids have made/making.
But if yeaman lines up in the 1st game I'll be a bit sick to be honest. Always loved yeaman as a player. Has his faults but he was effective at what he did. But we've not seen that or anything for 2yrs.
That said I don't see Michaels on a 1 yr deal sitting on the sidelines.
Yeaman would still be a decent replacement centre if injuries bite tho. Although Logan is now in the mix.

Just delighted it's only 2 weeks away now.

As for Yeaman, he's been first choice centre under 6 different coaches and a great servant to the club. His challengers are Michaels (who I though possibly more a winger) and Logan (not ready for first choice selection quite yet) assuming Sa plays on the right. So I can see it's not clear cut. Radford will pick based on training evidence, I genuinely don't think he'll go on anything else. I personally hope Michaels impresses.

We see this every season from plenty of posters on here. It's blind optimism, not based on any reality of where we really are. The squad is average at best with one aged and one inexperienced half with a few more inexperienced back ups. The front row lacks any quality in depth and the 3/4's have no real pace or guille. We have one hooker who is SL standard and if he gets injured we're FUBAR'd.

If we have luck with injuries and the halfs click then we can finish 7th or 8th but I think we'll be looking at 9th down and a battle against the likes of fev and leigh for our SL place

He will not have to impress too much to get in ahead of Yeaman on the last two years performances.

Training evidence cannot be relied on. All coaches always say everyone is training the house down or words to that effect. Last season Radford was continually saying how well training had gone that week only for FC to perform poorly at the weekend. Having said that so did Sandy!

Yeaman to be fair has not been that bad certainly no worse than others. His defence was very good and with better service could have been better in offence,saying that i would not be bothered if Michaels started and give Yeaman challenge. I dont think we are light in the forwards and there were not many games they were over run.I would have Rankin as back up to Houghton ,I have not been that impressed with Cunningham and rankin would give us something different.It will be a long hard road but stay clear of major injuries and we could surprise a few people

As others have said we have a balanced squad and barring injuries think we will do OK. 6 7 or 8 for me which will be a vast Improvement on last year COYH

for me that's blind negativity for me though. The margins of defeat last yr point to small tweaks. I've never seen a points diff like it for such a low placed team. We scored more tries than the yr before. We were a dumb team. We could of won at least 3 more games with the very very smallest of nous. The kids have games n another offseason which puts them and us in a better place than last year. This team has been screaming for a big mouth. If pryce does utterly nothing else all yr than stand there n get people in the right places at the right times then that's instant improvement. Same with snyed, if all he does is kick remotely well we've instant improvement.
another area for instant improvement should be the right side. We effectively went the yr without an entire settled right side
Lineham -bad injury after no offseason
Crooks- form n confidence issues
Sa mid season addition
Tuson endless injuries
Lineham, Sa, mini all currently getting a full offseason in and on paper looks much stronger for what was a targeted side for us.
front rows ok for me. Watts was one of the form props of the league in final 2 months n looks to have put some size on in the offseason to me. Feka was an asset all yr. Paea dropped off a bit 2nd half of yr but still more than a handfull for opposition. Bowden was unlucky to play as little as he did. But him n green have shown continual improvement as u would expect at their ages.
hooker is as u say a worry though
I may seem unduly optomistic this but I've thought about it logically n just feel it would be very hard to be anything like as poor. Only thing with that thinking is league will be tougher with reduced teams.

I said we'd struggle last year when plenty were predicting a top 4 finish and I was right.

pryce and sneyd may go well, and if they do then we can finish in the 8 but if they don't we will struggle again. Looking at the league, I see

wire
saints
wigan
leeds
les cats
hudds

Being shoe ins for the 8 and salford looking a relatively good bet, leaving maybe only 1 spot up for grabs. widnes and wakey not good enough IMO so leaves us fighting it out with rovers and cas. cas were good for much of last year and very capable of doing it again with what potentially looks like a squad that is at least as strong and rovers have recruited well given their massive turnover of players and have potentially one of the best (if not the best) half back pairings IF they stay fit and find some form. Top 8 is far from an easy task for us next season.

Jesus,don't think il bother going

It's so important to finish in the 8. Any team with an injury crisis in the middle 8 group could be in serious trouble and Jake's top 6 look nailed on. If Catalans can make a good start and find consistency they look like genuine contenders.

I think our squad is capable of making the 8. We have an excellent back 3, more experience, and hopefully more clarity of thought and a better kicking game than last year. Some homegrown talent pushing through also. Worries are depth at hooker, speed of PTB and support play.

Could be a very interesting season. Ellis, Mini, Pryce could be a strong leadership group. I like the sound of the Pryce/Mini/Sa/Lineham edge. With business done early recruitment wise and a long pre season hopefully work's been done on exploiting the personnel trade-ups at centre, half and back row. Looking forward to the pre season games.

Some very good points.
One problem (or maybe it is a good thing as it keeps us believing) with comparing last season and next season, is that you can see the unexpected problems that arose in the past, but not those over the horizon. Nobody anticipated 2013 dream teamers Lineham and Crooks would not play much in 2014. Maybe this year your kids will kick on, but it'll turn out be balanced by diminishing contributions from veterans. That's the sort of poop that drags you down. It cuts two ways, and I'm just the same thinking Allgood and McCarthey should surely be able to offer more than Poore and Langley did, while not giving much thought to whether Weyman will be as good this time around. Keating struggled, but at least he was generally available for selection - Kelly should offer more, but what if he has a bad injury?
As you say though, a poor season does provide more opportunity for improvement.

Glory boy

Yip.......40 yrs og going...ultimate glory boy me

Knew it. Obvious from all the whining you do