Over/under achievers in each division

[dixiedean]

Simple premise. Who has over/underachieved the most in each division?

Here's mine.

SL  Over London. Even if they go down. Possibly Salford too.

Under Leeds obvs. Possibly Wakey, Hudds, HKR if they go down.

Champs. Over York. Shout to Swinton and Leigh given were they were at.

Under Fax? Barrow?

L1 Over Whitehaven, great effort. WWR? They won a game?

Under? Donny, Newcastle? Never looked like winning the league?

What do folks think?

 

[Eddie]

SL. London/Leeds

Champ. York/Barrow

L1. Whitehaven/Skolars

[Charlie RL]

SL: Salford / Hudds

CH: Swinton /Rochdale

L1: Haven / Coventry 

[mickhornet]

Quote

 

Rochdale Hornets

 

under,worst ever results. Swinton over a superb season  for them.

[TBone]

SL: +London (Salford, honourable mention), -Catalan

CH: +York, -Fax

L1: +Whitehaven, -Skolars

[Sainthamish]

SL: over Salford, under Leeds. I thought Salford's small squad depth and low budget might seem them fighting off relegation but, they have proved me very wrong. Leeds should do much better for a club their size.

Ch: over Swinton, under Barrow.  Almost every pundit had Swinton bottom of the league but, I reckon new signings such as Gav Bennion, Hatto and  Matty Ashton, although not big name players at the time, have fitted perfectly to the way Stu Litter wanted the team to play. Barrow spent big money on players who haven't played to their value in my opinion.

L1: over Whitehaven, under Newcastle. Whitehaven are another team that have shown that spending big isn't necessary the answer to success. I recon Newcastle will probably still gain promotion through the play offs. But, they should have done better on paper.

[tms]

salford    c&s

york barrow

whitehaven newcastle

[HarrogateKnights]

Overs in Champ definitely not York...… Fordy has created a culture on teamwork and players playing for each other. The games we have won have been deserved wins. Over achievers in the championship would point for me in the direction of Sheffield. 

[EssexRL]

Skolars have ended a bit of both! 

[Londonfan]

Skolars massive under achievers. The players we have and our budget is rumoured to be in the top 4 of the league yet we only won more games than west wales and Coventry. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

4 hours ago, HarrogateKnights said:

Overs in Champ definitely not York...… Fordy has created a culture on teamwork and players playing for each other. The games we have won have been deserved wins. Over achievers in the championship would point for me in the direction of Sheffield. 

I think overachieving in this context means compared to pre-season expectations, and budget to a degree. Even most faithful York fans were talking in terms of a season of consolidation, and maybe a mid-table position, before it began, there weren't too many predicting a top 5 let alone top 3 finish, saying they have overachieved in this context doesn't imply it's some kind of fluke. They have an uncanny knack of winning tight games, when you look at their points difference compared to the other top 5 teams they look the obvious candidates to regress to the mean next year but clearly their steely approach means it's not that simple.

For me York, and to a lesser extent Leigh, Fev, (considering where those two teams were in January), Swinton and Sheffield all "overachieved".

Halifax were the biggest underachievers by a long way, plenty were predicting top 3 for them and their play-off hopes were over halfway through the season, aside of the Cup run it was a disastrous year for them. I'd say Bradford also underachieved in terms (reputedly) of money spent, I think the size of their squad represented a poor business decision.

Widnes you could argue also belong in the underachievers bracket in that although they lost 2 or 3 players when the financial problems came home to roost the drop-off in performance seems much bigger than the actual loss in personnel suggests...they put 40 past Halifax, scored 36 in Toulouse and 44 against Fev in the early weeks of the season and the subsequent drop in performances can't be solely explained by the individual players they lost.

[meast]

Interesting how people think we've underachieved? 

Personally, I think Salford and London have done really well, far better than probably most people expected including their own fans?

I think Leeds and especially Wakefield will be considered under achievers, Leeds' transition was apparently complete, the new stadium, new coach, new world class players coming in, no more floods or injuries to use as excuses, Wakefield, apparently their days of plugging away at the bottom fighting relegation every year were over, they were now a genuine top 4/5 trophy challenging team, or so a lot of their fans on forums and on social media thought.

In the championship, probably York have surprised everyone apart from the people who have been bigging them up for the last year or two, Halifax and Rochdale have probably underachieved.

In L1, I don't think Whitehaven were considered champion material by many in February, but possibly Oldham and Hunslet were?

And I remember lots of people getting giddy over London Skolars early on, their over achievement didn't last.

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Salford/London- Both have done far better than expected and been great to see them cause upsets.

Leeds- With the Squad, Money and Facilities they have been poor in most games.

 

York/Swinton- Both have done far better than I think most expected with the resources they have. Hope both can use it as a springboard for the future.

Halifax/Rochdale/Bradford/Barrow- Halifax have been awful. The Cup covered over many cracks on and off the field. Rochdale have gone backwards at such an alarming rate from last season. Bradford for the money they have spent and being mainly a Full Time team, should have finished in the Top 5 for me. Barrow should have finished in Mid Table with the squad and money spent.

 

Whitehaven- I dont think many would have predicted them to finish top. Great to see them promoted.

Newcastle/London Skolars- For the money and Players brought in, they should have finished top for me. Hopefully they will win the playoffs. London for me should have finished higher. They have some quality players and should have been challenging for a top 5 finish.