Not in Superleague it ain't for this coach. Name 4 teams we'll finish above.

I will name five teams who won't be in the bottom 4 - Leeds, Wigan, Saints, Warry & Giants but as for the rest it will be a dogfight. Each one of the remaining 7 teams has issues of some sort which could turn their season sour or otherwise.

For the record, I say 8th is achievable if Rovers can keep the spine pretty much intact.

IMO anyone basing predictions on trial games are crazy (ie Salford 22 Wigan 0).

Problem being a couple of our spine will already miss a february, add to that I still dont think we know who our full back is so the spine is looking weakened already.

would not surprise me if internal inquiries are not going on today after that performance I find it strange that no comment about the game as been made on your club web site not even an apology to the fans who attended I reckon hugde is having some serious words with the coaching staff and so he should tbh

I and most of the fans if not all of them agree with you if something is not done soon i fear the worst come the end of the season

1st is achievable, sadly not by us. The same applies to positions 2 to 8 as well.

You are deluded and I doubt you truly believe your assertion if you are honest and realistic with yourself.

Rovers are behind where they were at this time last year, with injuries to the spine of the team, a still lightweight pack, a smaller squad and a team of players who we know can't defend with any consistency or resolve.

When you mentioned in a later post those teams who you think will finish in the SL top 5, you conveniently failed to mention Cas. I can't see them going backwards with that team, playing the way they do and guided by an impressive coaching team. That leaves Hull and Catalans. As things stand, both have improved since last year in recruitment terms. Performance wise, Hull may have found another level and we saw quite vividly what that can do to us in yesterday's friendly.

I'm not disagreeing with you and on first impressions we look weak, but there may still be things that can alter before the start of the season. If we get in a couple of shrewd loanees or a late buy it could change our fortunes. Likewise with the teams around us, a couple of key injuries and bit of not settling and it can all unravel.
If you went back to the KC derby last year when Hull were woeful and we were playing really well, you could see no way back for them yet they made the 8 and we had to play in the qualifiers.
No season is won or lost in the preseason (even if it feels that way now).

First of all, I don't mind you calling me 'deluded' even if it is disrespectful, because it seems to me you need to be 'having a go' at the moment.

I disagree with you when you say Rovers are behind where they were at this time last year; can I remind you, beaten handsomely by 'Fax, thrashed by Warrington (40-0) and struggled to beat a very poorly prepared Fc (Radford OUT followed that knee jerk result).

I didn't 'conveniently' fail to mention Cas, I purposefully 'leapfrogged' Warry into the 5. I hope Cas do push on but I feel Warry's recruitment will see them regain a top 5 spot.

For the record I do honestly and realistically believe 8th is achievable. If last seasons table is anything to go by SEVEN points separated 6th from 11th, and more astoundingly 10-14 matches were LOST by teams finishing 5th to 11th. To me that demonstrates how tight the dogfight will be.

I know it looks as though the teams in the dogfight have recruited better than Rovers, but for me, even as it stands at the moment, the core of the team is intact, underperforming as one would expect at this stage of pre-season, Campo and Lunt will be back sooner rather then later, it isn't as bad as people want to make out.

Deluded, not at all, just putting the trial games into perspective and looking at the bigger picture. . .in my opinion.

I think Rovers are in pretty much the same place they were this time last year, maybe a little worse.
Its the fact that there is little to no improvement with a pretty stable squad, compared to the recruitment at this time last year that is the most disappointing.
Every other team has recruited well enough to have a positive impact this season....Not us.
There must be a reason the pack wasn't reinforced, but us supporters not privy to those reasons we will probably never know, but some kind of explanation would be nice.

The defensive ineptitude is still there from last season, no improvement at all. Chester has been backed with investment off the field to help in this area, but still he's managed to take a group of rugby league professionals and make them look like amateurs.
If he continues then player retention will be impossible, why would the likes of Kelly sign an extension? we all want him to but know he is too good for our current performances.
If Chezzy doesn't fix it soon or if Hudge doesn't get someone in who will, i genuinely believe we will finish in the bottom 2 and with Leighs recruitment there is a real possibility of relegation

I like your positive mind set the biggest part of sport is mind set and confidence in any team or sport rovers now need to shake off the negativity after having a good sole searching and move forward together its the only way, you have what you have, and you need to make the best of it, a couple of loan signings may be possible but there not players who will pull trees up or they wouldn't be coming on loan one good result and performance can do wonders for team sprit and moral

A well constructed post. I like the bigger picture perspective you believe you are adopting. It tends to be the route I go down normally. As a Rovers supporter since 1966, I have learned a couple of things. Never take anything for granted in sport and never write off the Red and White.

Sadly, I disagree with you on what that bigger picture is at the moment.

If you equate me "having a go" to me "venting my frustration", then yes Guilty as Charged. That said, the glaring defensive frailties we displayed all too commonly last season with this group of players have well and truly resurfaced. Don't you feel we even deteriorated in this regard week on week from the Huddersfield performance, if that's possible? Given that this was known to be our Achilles heel last year, we have a right to expect a modicum of improvement in the off season and a stiffer defensive resolve.

All will be revealed in 2 weeks time against Cas. If it's the same old, same old, the bigger picture will mean 1000 off our gates for the foreseeable future, a season of financial struggle, a bottom 4 SL finish and I hope a change of coach. For my part, I desperately hope this does not turn out to be the case.

Finally, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I was just telling it like it is imo, as we do round here.

Like you, and perhaps everyone else, I am at a loss over Rovers substandard defence. At times it beggars belief.

Let's hope priority (at last) is placed on this area, in particular around the PTB area. IMO this is where the main damage is being done, and seeing so many Rovers players on the ground in that area is bordering on criminal.

Is it the players fault or the coaching staffs, I don't know and TBH I don't care as long as they fix it and fix it sooner rather than later.

I'll give you a clue......poor coaching and poor recruitment.

Coaching and Recruitment, thats ironic, those were the 2 areas I really thought Peacock would improve you guys. He's so respected in the game I thought he'd be able to work the oracle in convincing players to come. I also thought he would influence the defensive part of Rovers game but I haven't seen that just yet. Maybe he's just not had enough time ?

But look, the season is long. You win now't in January and maybe Peacock isn't involved in any coaching activity ? I don't know ?? So best we just wait and see how Chessy and Poching fixes you up.

Its a good thing you know where you are now rather than with 6 games to go, and when the grounds are bit harder then your lighter pack may start show. On Sunday we did run over you a bit but we were hot and you weren't. You'll get better thats for sure. Are our derby friendlies really a good marker for the rest of the season ? I think not.

Its a long season chaps, no-one knows how your going to go, all you can do is get behind your team and make the noise you always do.

Minns Thornley and Mulhern look good players. However the rest ain't convincing. We needed to recruit to certain positions and haven't despite the obvious evidence of last season.