If Wakefield beat us and assuming they beat Leigh today as do Huddersfield next week it'll be

Wakefield 41.67%
Hull 40.48%
Huddersfield 39.13%

Huddersfield will have won more but they'll have played 24 games (including the 0-24 walkover game against Cas).

Thanks, pretty depressing either way.

Really poor. No real excuse either. Every club has had injury or covid issues. 9th in a poor league is inexcusable. Wigan being fourth tells you all you need to know.

We looked very poor yesterday and I was struggling to see any green shoots. We may as well have played a few younger players to get sone sort of positive out of it.

We could really go with a win next week, apart from Leigh our confidence must be the lowest in the league and it really wont help going into the off season on the back of 6 defeats.

Unfortunately there is little chance of that happening.

Think we really need to bring in at least 3 players, 2 pivots (hooker and halfback) and another forward. The only way this can happen is to somehow offload a couple of players including Fonua.

I also think we need new or extra backrow staff, new conditioning team and a attack minded coach, I'd bring in Lee Briers.

Unfortunately most recruitment is done around June/July and things looked ok then, so it may be too late

Just had a play about with scenarios and no matter what happens next round, we finish 8th.
Lose, we’ll be on 21 games with 17 points giving 40.47%
Wakey will be on 23 games with 18 points giving 39.13%
Hudds if they win will be on 24 games with 18 points giving 37.5 %.

INOUT
Wakefield play Leigh this afternoon a win will improve their % then beating us will take them above us on 41.66

Apologies, I forgot about their game today.
So as you pointed out, a Wakey win today and next week, puts them 8th and us 9th. Really shabby end to a bollox of a season. I went to Nth. Cave after the game yesterday and a Cas bus was there. Had a bit of banter with them about us being crap. Normally I would have said” give the Dobbins a tonking” but my heart just wasn’t in it.


Play offs are interesting.
If Cas and Leeds win, Dobbins drop out of the six
Dobbins and Cas win, Leeds drop out
Dobbins and Cas lose, Cas drop out.

Wakefield lost to Leigh so they cannot catch us even if they win next week. We are confirmed in eighth place.

Time to blood some kids in then, get their debuts out the way and maybe give some of our misfiring stars a kick up the...ahead of pre season

Agreed.

I'd like to see how Ferreira goes plus Burrell who only got two minutes against Huddersfield. Maybe Hookem and Staveley who looks massive and is highly rated.

The fixtures have been totally lopsided. Its just lucky that there aren’t two teams vying for relegation, and who they actually played dictated who went down. It will dictate some of the play off positions though, and the Dobbins has had it work in their favour.

The removal of scrums and the arbitrary six again rule has also benefited certain teams.
We’re not one of them due to our lack of pace. It’s suited teams like the Dobbins due to them playing a more unstructured style.

The whole season has been bang average, not just because of Hulls form.

That is without doubt the 'science' of it and you are spot on. Make no mistake about it we have been crap of late and seem to have taken a step backwards to 'the same old' from a bright start to the season. Whats more it is in fact hard to see what changes we can make to redress the situation in our current financial and contract state. At the other side of the City its fair to say that Hull KR are probably playing with more heart and passion than we are at present as well (however strangely they still couldn't beat us in what has been their cup final for years probably ironically because some of our under performers were motivated by the significance of the game to the other side) but to gloat in such a way based on a season that is so imbalanced where everyone hasn't played everyone twice and who you have played has been allocated by such a scatter gun way is just naive really. Looking at who Leeds, Cas and rovers have played In the end in 2021 the bottom half of the play offs could well be dictated by who you have managed to avoid in the fixture list this year rather than who you have played.

The bit in bold is the nail on head for me in terms of this season as its been a bit of a farce and TBH worse than last year as at least effort was put in by clubs to fulfil fixtures where as this season it seemed to be the opposite with opposing teams not affected not taking up offers to play other opponents.

The sooner the season is finished the better for everyone I think and they all both RFL & SL (Europe) need to take a long hard look at themselves for the situation & state the game is in.

It’s not just us that think we’re a big club. Fans of other clubs acknowledge we are a big club. Even Hudgell said it. One that has underperformed massively, to the detriment of the game. The game needs more strength in depth.
Being a big club is not about trophies anyway. It’s about the support you have , and the support you could potentially get.
Hull, Leeds, Saints & Wigan are the only clubs capable of potentially getting big crowds on a consistent basis. It’s just a fact, not arrogance on our part.
Go back to when both Hull teams were the top ones in the league. One club got much bigger attendances than the other. I live in Hedon and you see far more FC tops than Dobbins. And that’s in a town East of Hull.

For one reason or another, Hull haven’t unlocked that potential. We’ve come close a couple of times, but ultimately failed. That’s the frustration.

I take your point on the whole. I think you overestimate the value of crowd side though in the definition of a big club. On that basis Newcastle would be considered a big Premiere League side. I don’t think so. For some reason as with FC they attract large crowds, for their sport but achieve very little in the league.

I'm not going to start saying my dad's bigger than yours or that one 'decent' season is either the sign of an up turn in fortunes or just a flash in the pan. What I will say is the general feeling is one of positivity and for once in a while I'm actually enjoying watching RL, even when we've lost games we've generally played good on the eye entertaining rugby. In a post(ish) covid world I think that could be a crucial factor in pass sales next year.

The fact we lost games to Covid when we did did us little favours, we were playing well and on a winning run and then we had the compounded effect of us getting covid and losing 2 games and then I think it was the 4 next games cancelled due to other teams getting covid on top of that. We replayed the Cats away game so in effect we only cancelled one game due to ourselves. The reluctance of teams to then fulfil a fixture after that was something the RFL should have addressed, there certainly seemed little appetite for any team to try and push it though.

I do think Hull threw the kitchen sink at our 'cup final' and that seems to have had a detrimental effect on the season for you lot. I'm not sure how many players were rushed back for that game but going from barely being able to raise a team to being as near as full strength in a week was some feat, typical derby game in the end the team in form lost.

The bigger club thing is always thrown around, what is a big club? In non RL terms you could argue that Newcastle are a bigger club than Chelsea, all big does is raised (unrealistic) expectations. Even in RL terms its still a long way behind the likes of Wigan and Leeds.

Totally agree with the Newcastle comparison. I’d use the same one. Potential never fully realised.
Chelsea will now be considered a big club, even though it’s purely down to money.
Historically though, clubs like Newcastle, Everton and Villa would have d been classed as being bigger clubs.


The comparison in Super League is Warrington. They’re lucky enough to have rich owners, but I wouldn’t class them as a big club. Rovers are bigger than Warrington , and that was the case when you were in a league below them.
They just happen to be cash rich at this moment in time, and therefore classed as a bigger club than what they actually are.

I take your points Barham Red. I think how your own club is performing colours how you feel about the game generally.

With Hull it’s always jam tomorrow and it’s wearing thin. Being sent into the off season watching an awful Hull side being beaten by a really poor Wigan one (how are they fourth?!) won’t fill many with enthusiasm.

I agree with the top point, was talking about the live games I've seen. The other games in general i feel have been quite drab with the odd exception (cats at magic).
I actually thought Hull were nailed on to beat Wigan this week, last home game, sell the passes for next year against a Wigan team who can't seem to buy a try. Surprised that it sounded such a low intensity affair

I think it would be fair to say that in terms of RL both Hull & Rovers are in the category of what would be viewed as bigger clubs and both have underachieved since the glory days of both clubs. Rovers are seemingly on the up but when you actually brush away a lot of the factors of the current season, I would say it would only be a fool that would state Rovers are now the force of RL in the area. They have improved and done well of that there is no doubt but you also have to look at the rest of the league as Cats, St's and to an extent Warrington apart just about every other team ourselves included have been poor. I don't think its any coincidence that the stop/start nature of games and training being called off have affected most teams, some have faired better in dealing with that than others.

Heading in to next season with less chance of covid related interuptions I can not see the likes of Wigan, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Castleford or ourselves being as poor.

Lets be honest here I can not see past Catalan and St's contesting the GF such is the poor standard this season.

We are hamstrung by the poor retention and recruitment which needs addressing if possible this close season if AP & BH can make some small changes in the squad for next season then we should an improvement. I do feel that a big statement of intent and that this seasons performances won't be tolerated next season by possibly being able to release Fonua (finances allowing etc) but if that can't be done then I am sure some strategic changes can be made now BH knows what he has to deal with.

Dont think we will see small changes i think we will see some major changes
You also have to laugh at all these HKR fans who think their club is a force in R/L because they may make the top 6.
As badly as we have been playing we beat them recently and the scoreline would have been much more comfortable had Thaler not disallowed two tries given as tries by the referee.
Its quite possible HKR may not make the six and even though they have a good signing in Coote i can see them at the lower end of Super League next season

That was the worrying thing for me. I’m sure the players were told a big performance was needed, to try and encourage people to renew memberships. They offered nothing.
Hastings apart, there wasn’t much quality on show at all.

There is a distinct lack of quality in Super League, and it’s falling every year.
Like I say, the fact Wigan are fourth says it all for me.

Major changes? I would be interested to hear where you think they might be made. Mr Pearson has been concerned about the financial future of the club and because of existing contracts it’s difficult to see major changes without paying people off.

I don’t think we are yet a force in RL yet but are moving in the right direction which is more than can be said for FC. One win in your last nine matches must be more of a reflection on your team’s present standing than a one point win in the derby. We all know that at derby time anything can happen and it frequently happens that the side expected to win cannot manage it. No, we may not make the six but at least we still have a chance. We have been playing an open, expansive, exciting style of rugby that has been recognised by most people. Obviously we wouldn’t get any credit from some biased FC fans. FC have scored 397 in 20 matches we have scored 485 in 19. I think TS as a coach has had a positive effect on our team and will continue to do so. He improved Hudds, Rhinos and Wire and there is no reason to think he will not work his magic with us. BH has I accept had an effect on the FC team, just not the one you wanted. He does not have a record to suggest he might be able to turn things around.

No one can predict the future with any certainty for either of our clubs but as things stand today I think Rovers fans can go into the offseason with more optimism about 2022. Only time will tell.

Not just talking about the playing roster but that has to change and i am expecting several surprises.
Optimism is fine but at best you will finish 6th this season and even though i like Tony Smith as a coach i still predict HKR will finish at the lower end of S/L next season

What exactly are you talking about? You only seem to waffle in generalities. In which areas are the changes going to happen. How is Mr Pearson going to make room for signings that will improve an underperforming squad? Where will the money come from. If you are not just talking about the playing roster what back room changes are to take place?

Maybe everything will be a surprise to you and you have no basis for your assertions. Nothing new then as I’m sure this season was a surprise. Looking at recent years’ league results you are probably always surprised. Before the start of each season some FC fans, including you I suspect, expect that year to be the year.
Each season ends in disappointment.

We may finish 5/6/7 but even our worst scenario is better that your eighth.