Now that the dust has had time to settle and we start life again as a championship club. There is a debate about what we are aiming to be. On one hand we have Hudgell saying about Wembley last year just being in a major final not being good enough we need to be winning, on the other Peacock and Sandercock saying we are a club fighting above our weight to get in the top 8 and the reality now is facing games against teams such as Swinton Lions who have average attendance of 600.

The response of supporters has been strong but I get this impression ther is some relief that after the last six years treading water/declining that we don’t need to worry about Wigan and Leeds for a while. Are we more comfortable being a big fish in the championship pond than trying to get in the top eight of Super league? The reality is we have had ten years in the top flight and haven’t “challenged” in spite of spending to the salary cap. The Grand final last night brought it home to me about now we have dropped down how far we are from the level of Wigan and Warrington and whether we will ever be up there OR whether “success” for us is promotion and scraping into the top 8. And as fans is that as enjoyable as being runaway leaders of the championship which we will no doubt be favourites for.

Speaking personally, I've largely enjoyed the last 10 years and perhaps we should remember not all clubs are lucky enough to have played in Superleague at all. My thanks to all at the club for the good times.

But having followed Rovers since the sixties and got used to winning very little, even when things looked rosy, I have settled into just looking at one game at a time. If I'm watching a competitive game with a decent standard of play I don't much care whether we're playing Wigan or Workington, I just enjoy the game and try not to worry about championships and such.

These last couple of years have been pretty dull (Wembley apart) and I didn't fancy another bout of middle eights misery. So while it does seem lacking in ambition to admit it, I'm more enthused about the realistic chance of winning something next year and progressing than suffering another embarrassing season like this one.

I will refer you to the so near yet so far achievements of Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers in recent seasons, the wild swings in fortunes of Hull FC and Leeds in one season. I fully expect one of Catalans and Cas to make the top 4 again soon and win one of the 3 main prizes. Hull FC will sustain their lofty position next year too. Warrington were an Omnishambles before Tony Smith took over.

There are reasons for these respective outcomes. You need luck, infrastructure, coaching, talent, marketing, fan support, effective recruitment, cash, desire and sustained excellence to varying degrees at different times.

Anything is possible, we will rise again. The omens look positive. Believe in Jamie P's 5 year plan. I do.

Regarding the Championship. Next season it should help us rediscover a winning mentality once more. I expect Tim Sheens will aim to eradicate squad flakiness and complacency, imbue a killer instinct and a Wiganesque work ethic and never say die team spirit. Good coaches can get players to perform to consistent above average performance. I am genuinely excited by these possibilities.

Worse than that, today's RLfans restructure has brought home reality, sandwiched between Halifax & London.

I've heard on a secret forum that you're thinking about picking Fun Time Frankie for our representative team next season. Job's f**k*d.

Nevertheless, desperate times........

Toulouse will be competitive Fax London bulls fev Batley are all solid.but we should be as dominant as Leigh were in this comp.should being the operative word.the management should already be looking at qualifiers next year wakey Widnes Leigh On paper will be there.you would think leeds and hudds will not be down there again so Salford or hull for me..

No chance it will be us, we could drop down a few places but won't finish lower than 6th, I think Hudds will struggle again and although Leeds will improve, they are still missing a halfback.

I think we will be stronger on paper, but you never know with injuries etc

Salford will be in the bottom 4.

I expect hull to be anywhere between 10th and 4th. Probably nearer 10th.remains to be seen

Can only see Hull staying around the top 4 to be honest I can't see the other members of this years top 4 improving and the rest won't have the strength in depth of Hull

Well I'd expect leeds to be top 4. Cas played great with huge injury list .saints whole back line injured for big chunks.wigan 8/9 first teamers out for whole season .Warrington will improve with great youngsters.catalans could be anything but had big injury list after looking like best team in league early doors. Widnes wakey and us had huge injury list.cant see there being another season quite like it. Not our problem now but I wouldn't be so sure hull won't be back to scraping into top 8 again like normal

Doing what Leigh did this season will NOT be easy. But it has to be the target. Otherwise you're reliant on one of the weaker SL clubs having a financial implosion or a massive injury crisis, and still getting ahead of the other championship clubs - none of whom are going to wave us through on a triumphal march to the top of this league or the MPG.

If we did get up, 2018 would be about survival - most likely via the middle 8s again, if the system is still in place.

My hope is that we would banish the flakiness that Pickering refers too. Have a rugged, organised, energetic team. Cut out the Ulugia-type pratfall signings, and the sense that no matter how well placed we are in a game, we can find a way to lose.

Look not for correlates of success that confirm conventional wisdom, for these are weak associations, but identify independent predictors that show the path to glory and power, using regression analysis, Amen. The bloke who did Phil Clarke's much maligned predictometer, could do this.

One thing is for sure. The super league clubs will not want to be in the middle eighths next year, especially with us having momentum and hopefully decent super league players signed up at the seasons end to compliment the decent players that want to stay and play for the shirt.
I wouldn't want to be a Wakey, Widnes or Salford. There the ones who have all the pressure on them next year if they find themselves on that position.

My thoughts too.

Anyway, how many pieces of lego can you fit up your bum?

If a correct answer is the prerequisite to being selected in your Rovers select team, then I'll get my GP to re-examine my prostate later this week to accommodate room for an extra couple of bits, thereby increasing my personal capacity to an impressive 30.

Maybe Sheens could deploy this tactic with our squad in preseason. Might make us less injury prone.