League One 2024 - Hopes, Expectations & The Opposition

[Indigogo]

So, it finally feels like the season proper is almost here, and although I enjoyed the cup competitions and having some rugby to watch, the main and only objection for the club must be to gain promotion from League One this season. There is still a bit of a cloud hanging over what the league format will look like for 2025 for Champ & L1, which could impact how promotion and relegation looks at the end of this season. I do think it's too late in the day for it not to be 2 up and 2 down as usual for the season ahead, but this is the RFL we are talking about so anything could happen. I've seen a couple of media reports that advise we will know what is happening before a  ball is kicked, so there should be more news over the next week or 2.

As mentioned, the hope and expectation for this season has to be promotion for us. I think the club have assembled a strong squad that has a good mix of youth and experience and though I do think we might be a little light on numbers at the moment, I do believe our first choice 17 is very capable of mixing at the very top of this division. As ever with Rugby League, a lot will come down to injuries/suspensions, and who can keep their best players on the pitch for greatest number of games. We've already seen in the cup games that if we have 4 or 5 missing, the replacements are younger lads coming in for their first taste of senior rugby or players who with all due respect, have played the majority of their career in L1, and their is a drop off in quality. But most clubs in the division are the same. I do feel as the season progresses and if the injuries do hit, we may need to add 1 or 2 to the squad. We look light in terms of numbers in the centres and only have 5 out and out props (I'm classing Lynam as a 2nd rower), and we only have 3 2nd rowers. Admittedly there are players such as Parker and Brown that are versatile and can play those positions but I do feel we will need either some luck with injuries or some additional bodies as the season goes on. I'm excited for Matt Foster to really put his stamp on the squad, he's said from that first pre-season game in December that the squad will improve incrementally each week as they work on combinations and systems in training, and that has proven to be  correct in my opinion. Of course there is always room to improve and grow and I think we will do that under his stewardship. I like how he speaks in pre/post game interviews and is very clear and concise in what he expects from the squad. There also appears to be a great togetherness with the squad again with no egos or personalities thinking they're bigger than the club, and after last season that can only be a good thing.

As we all know Oldham have recruited primarily from Championship clubs and are clear favourites with the bookies to win the league. I do think that has allowed us to go a little under the radar (even thought we are clear 2nd favourites) but I'm sure everyone associated with the club is happy with that. Oldham will prove a tough nut to crack that is for sure, though having watched their cup game against Swinton, they certainly are beatable. Due to loop fixtures we play them twice at home and once away, and if we are to win the league and challenge at the top you feel we will have to win those home games. I certainly don't see it as a 2 horse race and think the league season will throw up a few surprise results as it generally does. Workington are always tough to beat at home and we play them at home in our second game so we will get an early view of them. They have of course signed Jarrod Sammut, but if he plays like he did last season for Barrow when at Cougar Park that might not be a good thing for them. Hunslet are always tough away from home too as we've already seen in the cup game when we played them. A lot of their squad are familiar names, with more than 10 playing for us in the past and i'm sure they'll be looking to make in impression when we visit South Leeds at the end of the month. Rochdale seem to be improved from last season and have had some commendable performances against Championship clubs in their own cup runs. North Wales Crusaders went on a good run at the end of last season in the play offs and will be confident of building on that, I'm not totally familiar with all of their recruitment this off season but you'd fancy that they will be mixing it in the top 6 again. Midlands seem stronger this year on paper than in seasons gone by and it will be interesting to see how they start the season. That leaves Newcastle and Cornwall, and barring them getting an influx of new players part way through the season, it's hard seeing them win a game other than against each other.

Our first game is at home against Cornwall, and with all due respect to Cornwall, we should be winning that comfortably and it should be a nice game to get back in the swing of things after not playing for a few weeks. Hopefully we have a full squad to pick from and if so i think we will go with something like below.

Pickersgill, Walkley, Ryder, Sa'a, Graham, Bishop, Miller, Ioane, Brown, Maher, Robson, Lanskey, Parker  (Bench) Kesik, Hatton, Schofield, Lynam.

You could argue that Thomas starts in the halves and Bishop comes off the bench to play hooker to give him some minutes. In that case Lynam would likely miss out. I just hope Bishop is back to fitness and we can see him play some rugby. i'm presuming that Dee Foggin-Johnstone won't be available, which is a shame, he would have been a good addition on the right wing and score plenty in this league. Lets hope there is an update on that before the league season starts.

What does everyone else think?

 

[Dovster]

15 hours ago, Indigogo said:

So, it finally feels like the season proper is almost here, and although I enjoyed the cup competitions and having some rugby to watch, the main and only objection for the club must be to gain promotion from League One this season. There is still a bit of a cloud hanging over what the league format will look like for 2025 for Champ & L1, which could impact how promotion and relegation looks at the end of this season. I do think it's too late in the day for it not to be 2 up and 2 down as usual for the season ahead, but this is the RFL we are talking about so anything could happen. I've seen a couple of media reports that advise we will know what is happening before a  ball is kicked, so there should be more news over the next week or 2.

As mentioned, the hope and expectation for this season has to be promotion for us. I think the club have assembled a strong squad that has a good mix of youth and experience and though I do think we might be a little light on numbers at the moment, I do believe our first choice 17 is very capable of mixing at the very top of this division. As ever with Rugby League, a lot will come down to injuries/suspensions, and who can keep their best players on the pitch for greatest number of games. We've already seen in the cup games that if we have 4 or 5 missing, the replacements are younger lads coming in for their first taste of senior rugby or players who with all due respect, have played the majority of their career in L1, and their is a drop off in quality. But most clubs in the division are the same. I do feel as the season progresses and if the injuries do hit, we may need to add 1 or 2 to the squad. We look light in terms of numbers in the centres and only have 5 out and out props (I'm classing Lynam as a 2nd rower), and we only have 3 2nd rowers. Admittedly there are players such as Parker and Brown that are versatile and can play those positions but I do feel we will need either some luck with injuries or some additional bodies as the season goes on. I'm excited for Matt Foster to really put his stamp on the squad, he's said from that first pre-season game in December that the squad will improve incrementally each week as they work on combinations and systems in training, and that has proven to be  correct in my opinion. Of course there is always room to improve and grow and I think we will do that under his stewardship. I like how he speaks in pre/post game interviews and is very clear and concise in what he expects from the squad. There also appears to be a great togetherness with the squad again with no egos or personalities thinking they're bigger than the club, and after last season that can only be a good thing.

As we all know Oldham have recruited primarily from Championship clubs and are clear favourites with the bookies to win the league. I do think that has allowed us to go a little under the radar (even thought we are clear 2nd favourites) but I'm sure everyone associated with the club is happy with that. Oldham will prove a tough nut to crack that is for sure, though having watched their cup game against Swinton, they certainly are beatable. Due to loop fixtures we play them twice at home and once away, and if we are to win the league and challenge at the top you feel we will have to win those home games. I certainly don't see it as a 2 horse race and think the league season will throw up a few surprise results as it generally does. Workington are always tough to beat at home and we play them at home in our second game so we will get an early view of them. They have of course signed Jarrod Sammut, but if he plays like he did last season for Barrow when at Cougar Park that might not be a good thing for them. Hunslet are always tough away from home too as we've already seen in the cup game when we played them. A lot of their squad are familiar names, with more than 10 playing for us in the past and i'm sure they'll be looking to make in impression when we visit South Leeds at the end of the month. Rochdale seem to be improved from last season and have had some commendable performances against Championship clubs in their own cup runs. North Wales Crusaders went on a good run at the end of last season in the play offs and will be confident of building on that, I'm not totally familiar with all of their recruitment this off season but you'd fancy that they will be mixing it in the top 6 again. Midlands seem stronger this year on paper than in seasons gone by and it will be interesting to see how they start the season. That leaves Newcastle and Cornwall, and barring them getting an influx of new players part way through the season, it's hard seeing them win a game other than against each other.

Our first game is at home against Cornwall, and with all due respect to Cornwall, we should be winning that comfortably and it should be a nice game to get back in the swing of things after not playing for a few weeks. Hopefully we have a full squad to pick from and if so i think we will go with something like below.

Pickersgill, Walkley, Ryder, Sa'a, Graham, Bishop, Miller, Ioane, Brown, Maher, Robson, Lanskey, Parker  (Bench) Kesik, Hatton, Schofield, Lynam.

You could argue that Thomas starts in the halves and Bishop comes off the bench to play hooker to give him some minutes. In that case Lynam would likely miss out. I just hope Bishop is back to fitness and we can see him play some rugby. i'm presuming that Dee Foggin-Johnstone won't be available, which is a shame, he would have been a good addition on the right wing and score plenty in this league. Lets hope there is an update on that before the league season starts.

What does everyone else think?

 

A pretty comprehensive assessment.

I have enjoyed the cup games. It's been a great test for our players and given them an opportunity to play competitively together so we can "hit the ground running" in the league. With respect to the lower ranked teams in our league, I do feel the standard drops quite significantly towards the bottom and this makes the games between the top sides even more important as I can't see too many "shock" results.

To help with injuries / suspensions, Foster will have to be smart by giving game time to the younger players when he can and resting the more senior players for the bigger games. I would expect us to target certain matches.

What will be interesting is to see is how teams develop as the season progresses - which teams have held some money back to strengthen where needed and which teams are duel reg (not a fan).

All in all really looking forward to this season. Its great to get back to watching the rugby and forgetting about all the politics of the game for a while.

I think the bookies have it about right, however on our day and with a fair wind, you just never know.

[Indigogo]

8 hours ago, Dovster said:

A pretty comprehensive assessment.

I have enjoyed the cup games. It's been a great test for our players and given them an opportunity to play competitively together so we can "hit the ground running" in the league. With respect to the lower ranked teams in our league, I do feel the standard drops quite significantly towards the bottom and this makes the games between the top sides even more important as I can't see too many "shock" results.

To help with injuries / suspensions, Foster will have to be smart by giving game time to the younger players when he can and resting the more senior players for the bigger games. I would expect us to target certain matches.

What will be interesting is to see is how teams develop as the season progresses - which teams have held some money back to strengthen where needed and which teams are duel reg (not a fan).

All in all really looking forward to this season. Its great to get back to watching the rugby and forgetting about all the politics of the game for a while.

I think the bookies have it about right, however on our day and with a fair wind, you just never know.

I can't see many shocks, if any, from Cornwall or Newcastle. Midlands will be much more competitive than those 2 and will be looking to cause an upset or 2 I imagine. 

It's all well and good resting players for the so called bigger games but we don't have loads of players to rotate with. Couple that with the fact that players won't want to miss out on any potential win bonus and probably want to be playing every week when possible. Of course if there are 50/50 calls on fitness and we have a side bottom of the league at home, you'd probably leave a player out this season. Last season we didn't have that luxury towards the end of the season.

Teams will continue to their squads as always. Injuries, Suspensions and players leaving for whatever reason always plays a part once the season kicks off. Champ clubs looking to SL and Australia for players (Fev and Bulls today alone) does mean that squad and fringe players seem less likely to get game time and that maybe something we can look to capatilise on once our season starts. 

I think the bookies have it too far apart at the top of the market. Oldham 1/7 and us 6/1 seems too much of a disparity in my book. If we manage to play them at full strength or close to, we would be right there with them. What they do have is more depth in quality so that will stand them in good stead. It's a double edged sword though and could mean they have some good quality players sat on the side lines not playing, and who knows how long they will be happy to do that once they realise they are bit part players. I noticed earlier today that Mo Agoro was dropped for their game against York and 3 of their middles were injured. They have recruited some well known, experienced players, but a lot of them are the wrong side of 30 and that could be a factor.

[Dovster]

Given the restructuring plans, I can see those clubs that are able investing more to try and gain top spot.

It is going to be more difficult than ever to gain promotion from the play offs.

[Indigogo]

3 hours ago, Dovster said:

Given the restructuring plans, I can see those clubs that are able investing more to try and gain top spot.

It is going to be more difficult than ever to gain promotion from the play offs.

It certainly adds extra importance on coming top this season and in general makes it harder to gain promotion in the future. 

Am I right in saying that this is the last season that coming top gains you automatic promotion? Or does that apply in 2025 before super 8s takes full effect in 2026?

[Dovster]

1 hour ago, Indigogo said:

It certainly adds extra importance on coming top this season and in general makes it harder to gain promotion in the future. 

Am I right in saying that this is the last season that coming top gains you automatic promotion? Or does that apply in 2025 before super 8s takes full effect in 2026?

It does look as though this is the last season for automatic promotion.

To be replaced by a middle eights play off competition.

Presumably bottom four championship and top four League 1. 

Personally I'm not a fan. I think you should be rewarded for a successful season and penalised for a bad one. Each club would set their budget to which league they're playing in and shouldn't be asked to play teams from the league above to gain promotion. Only my opinion.

[Indigogo]

12 minutes ago, Dovster said:

It does look as though this is the last season for automatic promotion.

To be replaced by a middle eights play off competition.

Presumably bottom four championship and top four League 1. 

Personally I'm not a fan. I think you should be rewarded for a successful season and penalised for a bad one. Each club would set their budget to which league they're playing in and shouldn't be asked to play teams from the league above to gain promotion. Only my opinion.

I think I probably agree with that to some degree. Maybe it would best to have top L1 goes up and bottom of champ goes down with some sort of play off for the next team to go up/stay up. It does seem harsh that you could feasibly go unbeaten in your regular season (as we did in 2022) and not gain promotion if you lose in a one off game. Which lets face it, anyone can do. You've also got to consider who will have gone advantage, you'd expect the team trying to gain promotion should do but I wouldn't like to say for certain. 

If it is bottom 4 of champ you could also quite easily have the 11th placed championship team being closer to the play offs than they were bottom of the league

[Mr Hicks]

Not sure if my expectations were too high against Cornwall but apart from the first 20 minutes I thought we were pretty poor. I know it's the proper first game of the season but at times I thought they moved the ball much better than us.

It just worries me slightly that we have a team that picks itself which isn't hood for complacency. Hopefully on a faster track we will improve.

Next week will be a bigger test and without stating the obvious they will be looking to put the Oldham result behind them.

[Dovster]

6 minutes ago, Mr Hicks said:

Not sure if my expectations were too high against Cornwall but apart from the first 20 minutes I thought we were pretty poor. I know it's the proper first game of the season but at times I thought they moved the ball much better than us.

It just worries me slightly that we have a team that picks itself which isn't hood for complacency. Hopefully on a faster track we will improve.

Next week will be a bigger test and without stating the obvious they will be looking to put the Oldham result behind them.

I agree that yesterday we did seem to play well within what we are capeable of. Although overall we did more than enough.

Some credit to Cornwall who never gave up and played some nice rugby at times.

Our strength in depth does worry me and might be a problem as the season progresses.

We will definitely have to improve for next week. I did think that Bishop looked promising.

Overall I will give it a 7/10 performance.

[Indigogo]

8 hours ago, Mr Hicks said:

Not sure if my expectations were too high against Cornwall but apart from the first 20 minutes I thought we were pretty poor. I know it's the proper first game of the season but at times I thought they moved the ball much better than us.

It just worries me slightly that we have a team that picks itself which isn't hood for complacency. Hopefully on a faster track we will improve.

Next week will be a bigger test and without stating the obvious they will be looking to put the Oldham result behind them.

We were good at the start of both halves for 20mins or so. I think the pitch was a bit of a leveller so I'm not concerned at all. 

The team might pick itself at the moment, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Consistency is what is required and this is a new team that needs minutes together. 

Next week will definitely be a sterner test, hopefully the pitch has chance to recover this week and the weather holds off a little.

[Indigogo]

8 hours ago, Dovster said:

I agree that yesterday we did seem to play well within what we are capeable of. Although overall we did more than enough.

Some credit to Cornwall who never gave up and played some nice rugby at times.

Our strength in depth does worry me and might be a problem as the season progresses.

We will definitely have to improve for next week. I did think that Bishop looked promising.

Overall I will give it a 7/10 performance.

Strength in depth is a slight concern of mine too. We do have numbers (Stead, Lynam, Conroy, Bailey, Copland, Lambourne, Downey, DFJ) but it's hard to argue that there isn't a drop off in quality, but that will be the same for all sides who have injuries and suspensions. There's only one been one league game though and I'm sure the club will look to strengthen as the season goes on if and when players become available.

Bishop did look promising. It'll be interesting to see where he plays when he has more match fitness. I can't see us carrying 2 hookers on the bench. Personally I'd have Bishop in the halves with Miller and drop Thomas. I thought Thomas was wasteful yesterday and don't think he's strong enough defensively.