MZH

Not many clubs turn a profit, and it's a pretty modest one for the ones that do. So I guess how much more clubs could pay depends how much the owners want to put their hands in their pockets. Unless you know them personally it's just speculation.

It does look a much better and more balanced side than last year. I like the signing of Leeming. I think he will do really well. That said the backline doesn't fill me with fear (Hurrell aside), and there has to be a question mark alongside Gale. Can he return to his previous standard after the injury? There is also the Agar factor. Possibly the one coach I trust less than Radford to get the best out of his players. I do think it's a decent side on the whole though. But probably one of those sides scrapping for a playoff spot rather than genuine contenders.

The first pre season games of the year are about a month away. Most sides have finished their recruitment for the season. Injuries permitting, how to you expect your club to line up for round 1? I will have a stab at Hull, but there are a lot of variables and it may turn out to be miles away, but here goes. 1. Jamie Shaul 2. Mahe Fonua 3. Jake Connor 4. Carlos Tuimavave 5. Ratu Naulago 6. Albert Kelly 7. Marc Sneyd 8. Scott Taylor 9. Danny Houghton 10. Josh Bowden 11. Manu Ma'u 12. Josh Jones 13. Ligi Sao 14. Chris Satae 15. Masi Matongo 16. Josh Griffin 17. Gareth Ellis

I am very happy with Hull's recruitment. We have an embarrassment of riches across the backline. Fonua, Faraimo, Naulago, Swift, Tuimavave, Connor and Griffin fighting it out for 4 spots. Sneyd is limited, but with a good platform he is probably the best in the league at what he does. Kelly is the X factor. He looks in great shape from the pictures I have seen and if he can stay injury free he is man of steel contender quality. Taylor, Bowden, Satae, Matongo, Fash, Brown are the out and out props in the squad. Plus Ellis, Savelio and Sao who can play there to a good standard. Ma'u and Jones are quality additions to the back row. I also like what I have seen of Sao. Savelio will be like a new signing and Griffin might get used more as a back rower this year also. So again, lots of good options. The big question mark is the coaching. Put a quality coach in charge of that lot and I think we would be very good indeed. With Radford I think we will scrapping for the last couple of playoff spots. Maybe Purtill will have a positive impact.

Hull should be fighting it out for a GF place with the squad assembled, but I don't have any faith in the coaching. Saints still the team to beat, but Wigan will be pushing them hard. On paper Hull KR look like relegation fodder but I still rate Tony Smith and think he might get a tune out of them and see them survive. Saints Wigan Warrington Castleford Hull Catalans Leeds Toronto Salford Wakefield Hull KR Huddersfield

This is a make or break season for Bienek. He had injury problems which meant he didn't really get a pre season last year and when he eventually got fit he ended up out on loan (mainly for salary cap reasons I believe). He seems to still be very much in Radford's plans so hopefully he has a big off season and gets some more chances next year. Matongo has improved year on year since he reached the first team. Don't forget that he was a latecomer to the sport. Only picked up a rugby ball aged 15/16. Last season was derailed a little for him when his mum died. He had quite a long time out of team after that with lots to deal with. We often write off props too early imo, they often don't come into their own until their mid 20's. I still think he has the ability to push for international honours somewhere down the track. All that said the best young prop at Hull is Jack Brown. He's only 19 but he will be a star. We should see him make a few appearances next year too.

Given the options we had available (or more to the point, unavailable), Griffin could have done a good job. He has flaws in his game no doubt, but he's had a really good season. Big, strong, reasonable pace and a good engine on him. If nothing else he could have helped out the forwards by doing some hard yards.

I've done my duty for the sport and gone for the Salford drop goal. Its a good list though. Lots of really memorable moments. For me Leicester winning the Premier League is the biggest story of the decade, but there was no single iconic moment, unlike the Aguero goal. Stokes' ashes innings is the best innings I have ever seen and might have stood a chance had we actually won the ashes.

As they say in boxing, styles make fights. We may well play more expansive and end up getting beaten even worse. But we are never going to beat Australia if we keep playing their way, but not as good. What is plainly obvious to me is that there are too many players there who aren't suited to Bennett's style. So we either need to change the players or change the style to better suit the players.

Ultimately I think our main issue is that I don't feel Bennett is a good fit for most of the players he is coaching. His philosophy is that he wants his teams to do the basics as well as they possibly can. Its a possession and field position game plan with the aim being to outlast the opposition. The problem with that is twofold. 1 - The Aussies and Kiwis adopt a similar plan, but they are better athletes than our boys. How can you possibly play your opponents at their own game and expect to win when they are bigger, stronger, and faster than you? If we had a monster pack and a couple of frightening, Mal Meninga style backs then it would make sense, but we don't have anything close to it. 2 - It's a style that the SL players just aren't used to. You are asking them to play one way all year for their clubs and then a completely different way at the end of the year. We are at our best when we are playing fast, unpredictable rugby, and the other sides struggle to contain it because they just don't see it very often. Jake Connor is the prime example. What was the point in selecting him? His game is all about having the audacity to try anything he sees whenever he sees it. He will make errors some times, but if you give him good ball he will win matches for you. If you don't want him to play like that then why are you selecting him? He is an average defender, he is below average as a ball carrier off his own line. In this system he is a passenger. You can probably say the same things about Hastings too. We don't have the personnel to play the way Bennett wants to the sort of standard that can beat the best. He has to start adapting to the strengths of the players he has got.

I feel a bit sorry for Austin tbh. He has made some costly errors but it's a position that is alien to him. On the whole he has done pretty well imo.

Connor is one of the best in the world at contesting the aerial ball. Why did it take us until 70 minutes in game two to give him something to attack?

Offload from Jones. Don't worry Wayne. Radford will get that knocked out of him when he arrives for pre season.

If the game wasn't already over at half time it certainly is now. I just hope now that the game is dead we abandon this tedious style and at least try to make a couple of things happen.

Just beat me to it!