i'll add in - a win at the magic weekend

I don't see how these two are reasons a team would get worse?

Or the Catalans coach being French, tbh.

Watch him fulfill all the negative Gallic stereotypes, now I've said that!

Leeds are a year older though, unlike the rest of he sides.

A lot of Hull fans are saying you'll be top 4 next year, but which team do you think will drop out of the top 4?

Very good point. On paper we don't have a better team than the top 4, although Wigan may struggle with 2 average halfbacks. I'd imagine 5th or 6th is realistic for us, which would be fine with me if we hit form towards the end of the season.

Don't think there are many saying we [iwill[/i be, but plenty of us who think we [icould[/i be. Big difference.

Until we see how teams look actually playing there's obviously a lot of guesswork, but IMO this year could genuinely be the most open at the middle to top end of SL for years. There's only Wire I'd be confident of predicting top 4, any 3 from us, Wigan, Saints, Catalan and Leeds could round it out IMO.

Think Catalans may struggle without Dureau early on and with a new coach bedding in they could find the transition tough going. Still a good team mind but if any of last year's top 4 are to drop out then my money would be on them.

i think its going to be very tight around the top 4 next season and the difference between 2nd and 5th may only be a couple of wins - there are a lot of teams capable of taking points of each other. it might even come down to avoiding potential banana skins at the lower clubs rather than performing against the other top 4 sides. last year this happened to us to some extent - a win at salford and a win at wakefield would have pushed us up the table

I would like to see the young fellas continue their development and get plenty of game time as this bodes well for future seasons and not just this one.
Hope for a top 3 finish with the squad we have.
a trip to wembley would be nice but rather win a couple of play off games

Most of all to come out evens or better against the big hitters over the season and make the KC a place no one wants to visit

Ok fair point, plenty HOPING to be top 4 then

Agree with the 6 teams you mention, they'll be the top sides, its just in what order.

I'd happily take a Wembley final at the sacrifice of a few league table places. With all that's happened it's hard not to get excited about the new season but people have to be realistic and not expect to go through the whole season unbeaten or something daft like that.

Realistic expectations for me next year would be to see us go for the throat a bit more regularly when we're on top, be more consistent against the lower clubs (someone already mentioned the slip ups last year that cost us) but basically going quietly under the radar until the last six weeks of the regular season when we really hit top form in the play off push. Or screw that and a nice cup final victory at Wembley would do. Is it selfish to expect the CC one season and the GF the next ?!?!?

Exactly, and it really could be almost anything. Wigan finished top of the pile last season, but if Smith and Green don't hit it off or Tomkins picks up an injury for a while, they could drop significantly. Anything can happen with new coaches, too, so Saints and Catalan are a bit unpredictable at this stage. Only Leeds definitely look stronger than last season IMO, and we possibly could be, so seeing both crack the top 4 is a very real possibility.

Catalan, a new (unproven) coach and now Dureau is out for a while, their home form will still get them in the top6 though IMO.

I think Cats and Wigan will drop off from last years form but Saints will be a lot better with their signings and coach, I can see them and Warrington battling for top dog although Wire's team is ageing. After that could be anyones game.