MZH

Lane has been a weak link for while, and Fash and Cator try hard but are ineffective. You can get away with one of Fash or Cator in the side but both of them together is a problem. If Lane can rediscover his form from a couple of seasons ago then he would be worth a place, but I'd go as far saying he was our worst player last season.

I'm aware that a lot of clubs won't have finished their recruitment yet, but with the Internationals done and the first pre season games around 6 weeks away, I wanted to see how everyone was shaping up for the coming season. All being well who are you expecting to line up for game one? There are a few positions up for grabs at Hull and the 17 I think we will name will almost certainlybe different to mine, but I would like to see: 1. Jack Walker 2. Liam Tindall 3. Liam Sutcliffe 4. Carlos Tuimavave 5. Darnell McIntosh 6. Tex Hoy 7. Jake Trueman 8. Herman Ese'ese 9. Fa'amanu Brown 10. Ligi Sao 11. Cam Scott 12. Jayden Okunbor 13. Danny Houghton 14. Jack Ashworth 15. Franklin Pele 16. Jack Brown 17. Morgan Smith The pack definitely has a lot more size and power than in recent years. Houghton at 13 would allow Smith to come onto the bench giving us a lot of options, and since Walker is a more old fashioned support play sort of FB it would be handy to have an extra pivot in there. There are question marks over the centres and second row, but on the whole I like the balance of the team better than last year. We definitely have more pace and size across the team and if key players stay healthy then we are good enough to push for the playoffs imo.

Of Hull's NRL imports I'm confident that Ese'ese and Nu Brown will go well. Okunbor could go either way. I'm worried he could be flop, but he's a good athlete and could be one of those players who find that SL suits them a lot better than NRL. But the one I'm most excited about is Franklin Pele. Again, he could go either way, but he's a man mountain with great pace and a bit of aggression about him. He's raw, but his ceiling looks to be very high.

Cooks have blown it. Poor defensive set when the game was on the line.

It's looking disappointingly one sided. Hopefully Samoa can dig their heels in and show a bit as they did against the Aussies.

Happy with Castore. I think in the early days they got too big too fast and struggled to keep up with demand a little bit. I know Rangers fans were not happy with them early on. But they are an established company now with some really high profile teams on their books. It also sounds like a fairly lucrative deal. Home shirts get launched tomorrow so I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

I thought it was all OK tbh. I'm surprised he just gave it as quick as that though. The ball probably was on the ground, but there's no way the ref could have known that from his position.

Poor defence from Samoa.

As soon as the ball came out of that tackle I thought you probably dont want to score on this play because its coming back if you do. Take nothing away from the skill though. It deserved a try.

Hull have announced Fa'amanu Brown on an initial 1 year deal. Not sure if it will be to play at 6 or 9 but he's a good addition I reckon. Should be an upgrade on Lovodua.

Well I did not see this coming!

Well, my money is still firmly on the Panthers, but that makes the second half a lot more interesting. Come on Brisbane!

It's been my fear for a little while now that Penrith are so efficient and polished that they are going to render the Grand Final a non event and win it by 20+ I hadn't counted on Brisbane being absolutely god awful though. They can probably take heart from the fact that they can't really play any worse and yet the game isn't gone yet.

Penrith are too good for them. I don't expect it will be particularly close by the end.

If the ref has clearly seen the ball on the ground then why go to the VR at all? On balance he thought it was a try, but wasn't sure, hence the decision he made to send it up as a try. Neither ref nor video ref was really at fault, but they do need to have a look at the protocols because things like this happen too often.

That's a big break for Rovers. I don't think that got to the ground.

I expect this is just his way of getting supporters to renew season passes after another disappointing year.

It really is a shame. When I was young I would have done anything to play for Hull FC, and I had a couple of half chances at it with service area, scholarship trials etc., but in hindsight I'm glad that I wasn't quite good enough to be a professional player. I'm 32 now, my salary is higher than the average SL salary (or at least very similar to it). Had I made it as a player, I would now be either retired or thinking about it, my body would be a wreck, and I'd be faced with the prospect of having to learn a brand new trade or profession (very few players in the grand scheme of things make it into coaching or the media). For what these guys put themselves through the money is terrible really. When I hear fans talking about players letting them down or saying they have paid their hard earned money and deserve better it really annoys me. The players put their bodies, their health, on the line week in week out for your entertainment. We all want our clubs to be successful and we all like a moan sometimes, but just turning up and paying your £25 entitles you to nothing.

Penrith are so good that it almost makes it boring. The Storm are a great team in their own right, but everyone knew they couldn't win this game, and of course they haven't been able to land a punch. I really hope they get challenged in the final.

Scott Taylor and Jamie Shaul

Commiserations to Wakefield. It's always sad to see any side relegated, and even more so when it's one who has been a mainstay of the top flight for such a long time. It's the right outcome, they were definitely the worst team over the course of the season, but at least they put up a fight in the second half of the year and made it interesting for a while. From the outside I think they have been poorly run for a while now. Applegarth's appointment always looked like a poor one, and too many players in the squad just aren't good enough. I know they have a smaller budget than most, but signing the likes of Proctor shows that what budget they did have wasn't used very effectively. All the best Wakefield, I'm sure you will be back soon enough.

The Rovers design is pretty good, but there's a sort of shininess to the red in those pictures that makes it look cheap imo. Not sure if it's the material or the lighting or the shade they've chosen. I'd need to see it in the flesh.

Struggling to think of a game I've cared about less tbh. I thought Smith might give a bunch of youngsters a run out but there isn't even that to create some interest really. Maybe a debut for Martin.

Wakefield are going to win this and survive on the last day aren't they. Wigan look like they are going to put paid to Castlefords PD advantage.

Good game this. I've seen better quality games but it's high intensity.