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2018 predictions are not so hard

Harry Stottle

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Harry Stottle

Harry Stottle

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54 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

Doubt it.  London look a lot weaker than last time.  Fax too.  Featherstone have made a couple of decent additions. Don't know why, but I think Leigh's retirement home will walk all over Leigh.

My guess:

Toronto

Leigh

TO XII

Fev

Hi David, as a Leigh fan I am falling in the age old tradition of favoring your own team, but honestly don't know, not one person on this planet would have predicted Leeds followed by Wire would have succumbed to a bottom 4 spot in the last two seasons. 

Of Leigh, they have obviously learned by their hideous recruitment policy of filling a team with expierience but no staying power, if you haven't already done so look at the squad they have assembled this term, young, powerful, fast and with some guile thrown in there, those who you may not be familiar with have good resumes, but will they blend into a unit or has the coach the abillity gel them together, only time will tell. They gave already played a "behind closed doors" game against Warrington which I believe was very encouraging.

I have no doubt whatsoever that the Wolfpack will be a big threat to all in the division but will they have the staying power, unlike the Leigh team of last season they will not be playing in the rigours of SL each week, but Paul Rowley is not one for rotating his squad he puts his best team on the park every week, that said they have some very good players in their ranks who should relish performing in the Championship.

I have said it before the first up game between these two relatively new teams will have no bearing on the season it should have been round 4 or 5 when the pkayers become accostomed to each of their team mates styles.

Not to sure about Tolouse, do you know if their squad is much improved from last season, I think it needs to be.

I have read the comments from the Bronco's fans that they are very concerned about the quality of the squad outside of their first 17 and subsequently are worried should injuries occur.

Halifax, I am not reading anything into their friendly with the Bulls (watched the full game on youtube) I think in Richard Marshall they have got one of the better coaches outside SL, and on dry pitches his team will have enough pace to worry a lot of teams.

Fev, agree they have recruited quite well and have secured a good midfield general in Martin Ridyard, he is more than familiar with what is required in the championship. Is it still the intention to Dual Registration with the Rhinos?

I hope I am wrong but outside of these clubs I do not see any other team breaking into the top 6.

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Les Tonks Sidestep

Les Tonks Sidestep

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15 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

The 2017 table will be repeated with the obvious exception of Hull KR being replaced by

Leigh in first place and TWP second.

20171229_085627.png

Leigh and TWP 1st and 2nd with Leigh probably slight favourites for top. 3rd - 6th perm any of Fev, London, Toulouse and Fax. Injuries and suspensions may have a big impact on final positions and once again Toulouse's place will be dependant on their away form. Fax look to be relying heavily on their DR agreement with Cas.

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Harry Stottle

Harry Stottle

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8 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Leigh and TWP 1st and 2nd with Leigh probably slight favourites for top. 3rd - 6th perm any of Fev, London, Toulouse and Fax. Injuries and suspensions may have a big impact on final positions and once again Toulouse's place will be dependant on their away form. Fax look to be relying heavily on their DR agreement with Cas.

And are Fev still DR with the Rhino's Les

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Les Tonks Sidestep

Les Tonks Sidestep

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1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

And are Fev still DR with the Rhino's Les

I believe so, although one of the regulars from the last few seasons has moved on from Leeds but it wouldn't surprise me  if another young prop replaced him as a regular. My point was that 'fax have made virtually no new signings (2 props, one from C1 and one on a supposedly season long loan from Cas being the only ones I'm aware of) and lost a few players at the end of last season. More than a few of their fans believe that more players played in the Fev/Cas Boxing Day friendly who'll be 'fax regulars than will be Cas regulars in the coming season.

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Harry Stottle

Harry Stottle

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50 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

I believe so, although one of the regulars from the last few seasons has moved on from Leeds but it wouldn't surprise me  if another young prop replaced him as a regular. My point was that 'fax have made virtually no new signings (2 props, one from C1 and one on a supposedly season long loan from Cas being the only ones I'm aware of) and lost a few players at the end of last season. More than a few of their fans believe that more players played in the Fev/Cas Boxing Day friendly who'll be 'fax regulars than will be Cas regulars in the coming season.

As a fan of a club who are involved in the DR system are you for or against it?

Also, I thought that Fax were running a reserves team this season, or have I dreamt that?

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Steven Grason

Steven Grason

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Leigh are clear favourites and might only lose a couple of games. 

Toronto are an unknown quantity in many ways and might find the standard of the top half better than expected. How will they travel? Top 4 yes and challenging for top 2 ,but might not do as well as everyone seems to think. 

If Featherstone stay clear of injuries to key players they could challenge the top 3 this year. They have recruited well, strengthening exactly where they needed to. Holmes and Ridyard have the makings of an excellent half back pairing, the best for quite a few years, improving the heart of the team and have quality cover in Thackery. They have a flexible back line too , with lots of cover and a good pack. 

Halifax haven't recruited as well as Fev and might find that the Cas dual reg doesn't help them as much as they thought. 

London have lost their coach and scrum half and according to their fans have a decent first 13 but are thin beyond that. They might struggle to  make the top 4. 

Toulose should be challenging the top 4 if they aren't unlucky with injuries. They have an excellent half back pairing who will get them around the park well. 

Should be an excellent and competitive season in the championship. Bring it on! 

 

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paulwalker71

paulwalker71

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What people have to remember is that finishing top in the Championship is irrelevant, it's all about positioning for the 8's at the end of the year. I think Toronto are playing quite a canny game with this - so long as they are in the Top 4, preferably Top 2, they'll be well-placed to strengthen later. Expect them to announce several very high profile signings just before the play-offs to strengthen their team. They've got a decent enough squad to comfortably get to that place, so they'll be fine.

I fully expect Leigh to walk the regular season, probably with Toronto into a reasonably comfortable second spot - largely because there isn't an obvious better team than them right now. Featherstone, so long as they can get a steady stream of Leeds players, should have enough to make the Top 4, especially if Ridyard can stay fit.

Halifax will probably be less of a threat this season as their Chairman has openly stated their short-term goal of becoming financially stable and he is clearly going to keep a tight rein on the spending. But Marshall is a good coach, and you can ignore their result on Boxing Day (it was a virtual reserve team). Expect them to be scrapping with Toulouse and London for the minor places.

So, I think it's Leigh and Toronto for the top 2 places, Featherstone clearly 3rd, and then perm any one from Fax, London and Toulouse for 4th. It looks like a clear gap to the rest, and I'd expect Barrow, Rochdale and Swinton to be contending the relegation spots (if indeed there are relegation spots this season... who knows?)

I'll go...

1. Leigh

2. Toronto

3. Featherstone

4. Toulouse

5. Halifax

6. London

7. Batley

8. Sheffield

9. Dewsbury

10. Rochdale

11. Barrow

12. Swinton

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The Phantom Horseman

The Phantom Horseman

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2 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

Featherstone, so long as they can get a steady stream of Leeds players, should have enough to make the Top 4

I think Fev are less dependent on Leeds than that suggests. Other than Jordan Baldwinson, who was a regular for two years, we have tended to use them as fillers and I honestly can't think of many games that we won where we would have lost without DR players...one, maybe two at most and even that's a reach. 

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Mumby Magic

Mumby Magic

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To me it's an exciting league many strong/er clubs. Anybody predicting that Leigh will walk it must have been on the sauce. It is also a reason why licensing shouldn't happen. Why stifle the ambition of 4 or 5 of the clubs on that list to try something that didn't succeed in the past?

Like poor jokes? Thejoketeller@mullymessiah

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Les Tonks Sidestep

Les Tonks Sidestep

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4 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

As a fan of a club who are involved in the DR system are you for or against it?

Also, I thought that Fax were running a reserves team this season, or have I dreamt that?

Totally against it.

I believe that 'Fax are again running a reserves but I doubt that many, if any, of those players are of top half Championship quality and certainly not of a Top 4 team - don't think they'd be there if they were.

13 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I think Fev are less dependent on Leeds than that suggests. Other than Jordan Baldwinson, who was a regular for two years, we have tended to use them as fillers and I honestly can't think of many games that we won where we would have lost without DR players...one, maybe two at most and even that's a reach. 

I think we used 8 DR players last year, with 3 playing only 1 game? Of the others both Baldwinson and Ormanroyd played in about half the games and the others in around 10 each. I also doubt that this year we will be wanting our DR partners to offer us a half back (not sure we really needed one last season but that's a different story).........although I'd be surprised if we don't see at least one of their young props fairly regularly.

It will be interesting to see how things work under Duffy. 

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Gerrumonside ref

Gerrumonside ref

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4 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

What people have to remember is that finishing top in the Championship is irrelevant, it's all about positioning for the 8's at the end of the year. I think Toronto are playing quite a canny game with this - so long as they are in the Top 4, preferably Top 2, they'll be well-placed to strengthen later. Expect them to announce several very high profile signings just before the play-offs to strengthen their team. They've got a decent enough squad to comfortably get to that place, so they'll be fine.

I fully expect Leigh to walk the regular season, probably with Toronto into a reasonably comfortable second spot - largely because there isn't an obvious better team than them right now. Featherstone, so long as they can get a steady stream of Leeds players, should have enough to make the Top 4, especially if Ridyard can stay fit.

Halifax will probably be less of a threat this season as their Chairman has openly stated their short-term goal of becoming financially stable and he is clearly going to keep a tight rein on the spending. But Marshall is a good coach, and you can ignore their result on Boxing Day (it was a virtual reserve team). Expect them to be scrapping with Toulouse and London for the minor places.

So, I think it's Leigh and Toronto for the top 2 places, Featherstone clearly 3rd, and then perm any one from Fax, London and Toulouse for 4th. It looks like a clear gap to the rest, and I'd expect Barrow, Rochdale and Swinton to be contending the relegation spots (if indeed there are relegation spots this season... who knows?)

I'll go...

1. Leigh

2. Toronto

3. Featherstone

4. Toulouse

5. Halifax

6. London

7. Batley

8. Sheffield

9. Dewsbury

10. Rochdale

11. Barrow

12. Swinton

Interesting post especially the point about Toronto and the end of the season.

I reckon:

1. Leigh

2. Toronto

3. Toulouse

4. Featherstone

5. Halifax

6. London

7. Batley 

8. Sheffield

9. Swinton

10. Dewsbury

11. Barrow

12. Rochdale

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