Leigh did it. Catalan have been to more grand finals than us despite only being in SL since 2006

It was a friendly against the best team in SL but to concede 40 points at home and not score doesn't augur well.

All I want from this season is a steady improvement. In truth with the squad we have assembled I cannot see us finishing in the top 6. We have to be realistic. If we are at least competing for a play off place come the final rounds it will be progress.

For me the most important measure of progress is how many of our young home grown players get a chance to prove they are capable at excelling at this level. That's the only way we will be competing against the top teams in the next few seasons.

Catalans have a bit of leg up when it comes to signing overseas players you must admit.
Leigh have done it, yes, but you have to wonder how sustainable that is going to be for them.
We've managed a couple of periods of being quite good but it's never lasted more than 2 or 3 years at a time and I suspect Leigh will follow a similar pattern tbh.

That is what makes me rue the opportunities we had to make the GF , with players of the calibre of Ellis, Sneyd, Mini, Tag, Watts, Manu, Fanoa, Talanoa and Kelly, they could have been the years that marked us out as a truly top team, whereupon recruitment and investment would have been easier, than that of our current situation. I agree that quality youth production is now the way we will compete again, unless I win the Euromillions, so we will all have to show patience, loyalty and a huge case of celebrating the modest highs that will happen until we are back in the mix. A win against Rovers would help some way in that, I know they aren't our benchmark but who'll remember yesterday, if that happens?

2016 feels like a huge missed opportunity. Plus that year Cas made the GF then had the Hardaker fiasco, we just got pipped by Leeds in the play-off. If we'd scraped through instead I'm convinced we'd have won the GF.

I’ll happily forget yesterday GB.

Yeah the post Wembley fall off was a a wasted chance of a Grand Final win. Had we beaten Warrington in the last round of the Super 8s instead of it being 1 Warrington 2 Wigan 3 Hull we would have finished top on points difference over Wigan and had a home play off for Old Trafford.

I agree with your comments.
We are now playing with no recognised half backs a front row at 13 and a very poor threequarter line.
That said we should not be conceding 40 points in a pre season friendly and getting nilled
Trueman is no world beater so we shouldnt be banking on him to change the team dramatically at half back when he is fit.It was obvious last season he had lost his pace since his injury which was a major part of his game.
Hoy is not a half back and Walker is a much better full back so i just wonder what Smith will do with him.Just because he is an Aussie import shouldnt be a pass for playing him if he is not cutting it on the field.
He has some pace which we need but cant think of any other position we could utilise his pace as he is not big enough for a centre but maybe try him on the wing in place of McIntosh and change the way we bring the ball out from the back on that wing.
Playing Cator at nine is just bemusing and like i said several weeks ago we will still be playing Championship level players like McIntosh,Cator,Lane and Fash in our 17.
London apart none of those players would get a regular place in other S/L clubs first 17.
There are some encouraging signs from the new forwards but imagine if we lost Pele and Essee for a long period with injury we would be in real trouble.
Hate to say this but i would rather see Brown at nine and play Houghton at 13

Quite obviously Wigan and Saints will almost certainly be in the six. For London I reckon the aim will be to win at least two or three games and not suffer the embarrassment of going pointless all year, which could happen.
The remaining nine all have varying chances of grabbing a play-off place, although Salford and Cas look even weaker than us.

It's not impossible for us to sneak into the top-six, but it will need an awful lot of things to fall in our favour for it to happen.
This squad will need to reach somewhere near its maximum potential limit (and stay virtually injury free all year), added to that we would probably need two or three of the other mid-table trundlers to underperform and therefore open up those 5th/6th spots for someone unexpected to nab.

It has happened before when a side has taken everyone by surprise and over-performs to elbow their way into the mix (seem to recall Widnes doing it one year?), so we aren't completely without hope!

But realistically, it's difficult to put a case for us being in the play-offs come September, all things being equal. We simply don't look strong enough, with a lack of both quality and squad depth being major hinderances to any serious challenges.
I'm just going to take it week by week and see how the season pans out and, like you, hope to see at least some signs that some progress is being made in the right direction.

The prop at 13 thing could be an even bigger issue if Walker is going to play full back. I like Walker but he's more of an old school, support playing 1 rather than a pivot. Walker at 1 and Fash at 13 would cause me to worry about where our creativity would come from, and puts an awful lot of pressure on Hoy and Brown (or whoever gets the nod in the halves).

The spine (1,6 and 7) will take time to gel, bet there isn't another SL team that will start the season with three new players in those positions.

Leeds

Martin’s going to be busy playing both wings?