I expect Rovers to be in the 5-8 bracket come the end of the season. My expectations are the same with or without Clinton, but I suspect that by the weekend that debate becomes irrelevant!

Very good post. It is way too early to say how either of our teams are going to do this season. 2 games is not enough to make a reasonable assesment of how things are going to go. Rovers supporters who have gone to the games will have a lot better idea of how the team are faring because they will see a lot of stuff that is not reported. Likewise with us.

If Clinton arrives and it seems promising for you that he will it will add much needed muscle to your attack which is seriously light IMO. But as others have pointed out Rovers could well fare better when the warmer weather gets here (IF it gets here) with a lighter pack than most they will have a bit more mobility. There is no doubting they have some very creative players in their side and those type of players can be crucial in the tight games.

I'm reluctant to use injuries as an excuse, but as you raise the issue we were missing a few for the Leeds game - playing our best prop at centre for much of the game.

That said, I do agree with much of your first post.

I know everyone tries to act brave and say it had nowt to do with injuries but at the end of the day they DO play a massive part dont they?

How many times last year did Leeds have squad numbers 1-13 in the weekly line up! Mind you their fringe squad players are very good as well but if you can keep your key personnel fit then logically you are going to perform better.

Yes they do. And Hull FC suffered badly from this in 2008 and 2009.

I agree Rovers will win cause more grieve to teams when the pitches firm up, clearly Morgan wants to utilise the kick game, Rovers have the pace and this will fair well for them. The are light presently in the pack, however their pack are workhorses.

Blimey clinton had better be good 60 pages and he is still is not hear hope he hurries up

I'm sure Mrs B can dig out the Crocker threads from last year

, but I suspect this one is fairly amateurish by comparison.

Crocker was well above 60 pages

Was about 3 full threads, wasn't it?

And then some Rupert, you know what we are like

I think at one point just about every thread had a mention of Crocker.

I dont know about that, I spend very little time on your board, I was just guessing