League Positions 2025

[Blind side johnny]

Now that the fixtures have been published, the system for P&R has been clarified and most C1 clubs have completed their recruitment, where do fans believe we will finish in the league table, prior to the play-offs and where might the other clubs be?

I will give my own predictions (anxiously awaited by the bookies), later.

Edited November 28, 2024 by Blind side johnny

[Jimmy DoNut]

As a completely unbiased Oldham fan, and having seen a lot of League 1 last year, this is mine:-

Keighley, Swinton, Rochdale Hornets, Whitehaven, Midlands Huricanes, Goole Vikings, Dewsbury, Workington, North Wales Crusaders, Cornwall, Newcastle Thunder.

[SUPERSTUD]

Keighley, Goole Vikings, Swinton, Dewsbury, Workington, Midlands, Rochdale, Whitehaven, North Wales Crusaders, Newcastle Thunder, Cornwall.

I think a lot will depend on dual reg usage.

[Indigogo]

16 hours ago, Blind side johnny said:

Now that the fixtures have been published, the system for P&R has been clarified and most C1 clubs have completed their recruitment, where do fans believe we will finish in the league table, prior to the play-offs and where might the other clubs be?

I will give my own predictions (anxiously awaited by the bookies), later.

I've been waiting for L1 prediction thread to pop up... my thoughts as it stands, starting with the team I support. The rest in no particular order.

Keighley - Retained 17 of last seasons squad and have added what appear to be quality signings in key positions. Izaac Farrel in the halves and Harry Bowes at hooker are probably the 2 most eye catching. We've added Brad Holroyd on the wing which could prove to be a good bit of business, he is prolific at this level and still young. We've also recruited some relative unknowns in Leo Aliyu from Leeds, Oliver Whitford from Huddersfield and Tane Bentley from Leigh Reserves. There is also currently 2 trialist in pre season training with club, Elliott Cousins from West Bowling & Will McCardle from Heworth. With the trialists we only have a squad of 25. Our first 17 at this moment probably picks itself and whilst it's strong for L1 we do appear to lack a little depth, especially in the centres and at prop. That said, it's pointless spending a fortune and having good players on good money sat not playing, there's no automatic promotion and this season is most definitely about how you finish rather than how you start. We have an new coach in Jake Webster, but the players know him as he's been with the club a while. We've also brought Jordie Hedges back onto the coaching staff after he had a season in SL with London Broncos. Should be top 4.

Swinton - They've obviously come down and have lost their coach and a lot of experienced players. They have a new inexperienced coach and have signed lots of young players from SL academies. They've retained some strong players such as George Roby, Ant Walker and Gav Rodden and have added the experienced prop Adam Sidlow. I think they'll get better as the season progresses and will probably be top 4.

Dewsbury - You guys have obviously come down and have had a bit of an overhaul of the squad. Looking at your squad there are a few familiar faces but also a lot of players i've not seen play, so can't comment too much on the over all quality of the squad. Similar to Swinton i think you will get better as the season goes on and i'd have a guess at mid table in 2025.

Whitehaven - Third and final team that were relegated. Everyone is aware of the hardship they've gone through and the impact on the playing squad. They've signed primarily from the community game, with a few from a below average Workington side from last season. No doubt this season is about getting their house in order and building for the future. I still expect they'll win a few games against Newcastle and Cornwall, but other than that, it could be a struggle.

Rochdale - A team that improved as the season went on in 2024, and have a top player in Lewis Else, so you wouldn't be shocked if they beat anyone on their day. Looking at their incoming and outgoings, i'm not sure if they've improved on 2024s squad. They've lost/moved on both 9s who i thought were good players, and have replaced them with Oli Burton from Batley. I've never seen him play so can't say if that is an improvement or not. Again I think they'll be challenging at the top and are likely to be top 4.

Midlands - Another team that improved as 2024 went on and came close to knocking out the promoted Hunslet in the play offs. They looked to have improved their forwards ahead of 2025 in signing Morris, Wood, Kenga and Roden and with that I think they' improve again. As it stands I have them just missing out on top 4, but it'll be tight between a few teams.

Cornwall - Great that they're continuing and will participate in 2025 with a new owner. On the field they've lost a few of their better player to northern teams and as far as I can see haven't announced a squad as of yet. With that in mind you can probably only see them beating Newcastle, if anyone, in 2025.

Newcastle - Same as Cornwall, great to see them continue and start to announce some players this last week. Overall you imagine it would again be a struggle but hopefully they can win a game or 2 against Cornwall.

Goole - New boys of the league for 2025. They've made some eye catching signings, Jamie Shaul being the most obvious. I think people saying they will be competing at the top are probably a little bit premature, for a a brand new squad with a new coach to hit the ground running in their first season would be impressive. Looking at the squad announced so far they look to be a bit light in the forwards and I think that will prove to be their downfall. I think they'll beat the likes of Cornwall, Newcastle and Haven, and may upset the odds a couple of times but I have them about 7th or 8th in 2025, which would be a decent start.

Workington - I think Workington have improved their squad quite dramatically from 2024. Incomings include some big middles from Haven, which is where I think they struggled last season. There is also a couple of unknown quantities from Australia. According to their forum they are still talking to 3 players of championship quality, if they sign and are of good quality, you can easily see Worky being a top team in 2025. Top 4 will no doubt be the aim.

North Wales - It's really hard to gauge where they are at the moment. They've gone really quiet on social media the last couple of months and i'm unsure what their squad will look like. They have a new owner and some of the players they've already announced appear to be an upgrade on 2024. For now I think I have them missing out on Top 4, but that could quite easily be a mistake!

As mentioned above, I think this season is about improving as you go. Clubs will be looking to add players throughout the season to improve their squad and come to peak from ahead of the middle 8s. The dates of fixtures are interesting too. Keighley don't have a run of more than 4 league games without having a free weekend of some sort. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for keeping the squad refreshed or a bad thing with having a stop/start feel to the season and not being able to gather momentum. I guess that will be the same for all clubs though.

In terms of the table I'd have a guess at: 1: Keighley, 2: Workington, 3: Rochdale, 4: Swinton, 5: Midlands, 6: Crusaders, 7: Dewsbury, 8: Goole, 9: Whitehaven, 10: Cornwall, 11: Newcastle.

[Yorks Tim]

@Bearman

This what I was talking about today. 

[coolie]

Don't see Dewsbury & Goole in 7th & 8th place 

[Indigogo]

14 hours ago, coolie said:

Don't see Dewsbury & Goole in 7th & 8th place 

Where do you see them?

[graham fisher]

5 hours ago, Indigogo said:

Where do you see them?

Who knows. As our coach says,he’s happy to stay under the radar and see where that takes us. I’m happy with that.

[coolie]

7 hours ago, Indigogo said:

Where do you see them?

No expectation for the Rams but won't be 7th, Goole I'd say will be a little higher than 8th assembled a nice little squad.. Few mercenaries, but should go well

[Indigogo]

3 hours ago, graham fisher said:

Who knows. As our coach says,he’s happy to stay under the radar and see where that takes us. I’m happy with that.

Well yeah, no one knows. The point of the thread was to discuss where teams might finish.

[Indigogo]

1 hour ago, coolie said:

No expectation for the Rams but won't be 7th, Goole I'd say will be a little higher than 8th assembled a nice little squad.. Few mercenaries, but should go well

Someone has to finish 7th and 8th. Who would you have there? I've give my reasoning and thoughts...

[graham fisher]

12 hours ago, Indigogo said:

Someone has to finish 7th and 8th. Who would you have there? I've give my reasoning and thoughts...

I reckon league one next season will be really competitive,some good teams in there. I'm quite happy with our recruitment and I think we can finish top 4. 

[Indigogo]

3 hours ago, graham fisher said:

I reckon league one next season will be really competitive,some good teams in there. I'm quite happy with our recruitment and I think we can finish top 4. 

Totally agree it will be very competitive barring a couple of teams. There's no reason why Dewsbury can't finish top 4, just from the players retained and players signed, I think you'll be just missing out on top 4. Of course I could be well off the mark. Lots of things such as injuries, suspensions, signings, duel reg etc can change that. I've put Crusaders as 6th but with some of their rumored signings, i can see them being top 4. Should be a cracking season!

[Wakefield Ram]

Think we'll be top 4

[coolie]

On 02/12/2024 at 21:12, Indigogo said:

Someone has to finish 7th and 8th. Who would you have there? I've give my reasoning and thoughts...

It's all guess work

3 games in will give us a pointer 

Apart from Keighley who will be top 3 I won't say champions as the likes of Dewsbury, Goole, Workington, Swinton, Whitehaven, Midlands, NWC, Rochdale have had big overhauls in personal 

Only certainty is that likes of Newcastle & Cornwall will struggle

[Indigogo]

15 hours ago, coolie said:

It's all guess work

3 games in will give us a pointer 

Apart from Keighley who will be top 3 I won't say champions as the likes of Dewsbury, Goole, Workington, Swinton, Whitehaven, Midlands, NWC, Rochdale have had big overhauls in personal 

Only certainty is that likes of Newcastle & Cornwall will struggle

OF course it's guesswork, that's the whole point of the thread though!

Is a team even classed as champions this year? There isn't the incentive of automatic promotion for coming top like years gone by.

You rightly point out lots of sides have had large squad overhauls, that could lead to some so called clunky performances to start with from some sides. 5 of the sides, Keighley included, have a new coaching set up too.

[coolie]

8 hours ago, Indigogo said:

OF course it's guesswork, that's the whole point of the thread though!

Is a team even classed as champions this year? There isn't the incentive of automatic promotion for coming top like years gone by.

You rightly point out lots of sides have had large squad overhauls, that could lead to some so called clunky performances to start with from some sides. 5 of the sides, Keighley included, have a new coaching set up too.

Personally I think this coming season is quite exciting 

A voyage into the unknown 

It will be more interesting than super league 

Wigan or Wigan or wigan

Or

Hull KR

[phildog]

Play-offs.

[Crown Flatter]

A couple of weeks ago, some of us got together and listed our choices of where we thought teams would finish. I will leave others to add theirs if they so wish, but here is my selection.

1 Keighley

2 Midlands 

3 Dewsbury 

4 Rochdale 

5 Whitehaven 

6 Goole

7 Swinton

8 Workington 

9 North Wales

10 Cornwall

11 Newcastle 

On reflection, I think I should have swapped the two Cumbrian teams, but my choice has been made..

[Blind side johnny]

Indigogo has provided an in depth and considered analysis with which I largely agree. I feel reasonably confident in predicting the top one and bottom two teams but all others are very speculative. This feels likely to be a much more competitive league than in 2023.

1. Keighley - they have assembled a decent squad with a healthy sprinkling of experience at higher levels and a seasoned coach. They are probably the top spenders in the division as well.

2. Workington - although many of their acquisitions are already NE based I feel that they have recruited well. They have an experienced local coach and new additional backing for the club that should bring a sense of stability. As always they will be very strong at home with their sense of community being a real asset.

3. Swinton - a new coach and a big change in the squad with sufficient retention to stand them in good stead in this division. If their DR pays off it can make all the difference. Will the money hold out, though?

4. Dewsbury - (you can throw a blanket over positions 4-9 dependent upon good fortune and squads gelling, so I allowing myself a bit of bias here). A largely unknown squad, especially to the fans, and a coach working with his own players for a full season. Lots of youth and enthusiasm but I fear that experience and nous will be sadly lacking at times; a leader needs to emerge.

5. Rochdale - some good recruitment I feel, combined with a very experienced coach at this level should see them vying for a play-off spot.

6. Midlands - this is one team that could do much better than my prediction. They have a nice balance of experience and skill and have been slowly maturing into a good team.

7. Crusaders - an unknown. A new owner promised some significant stability yet much of their recruitment has been under the radar. There seems toi continue to be uncertainty about where their home games will be played - all on the one ground or a bit of groundhopping again. This never helps the players.

8. Goole - some decent recruitment on the face of it but no real spring chickens amongst them. They will get some good results and a few disappointments but could be quietly content with an 8th place finish. Their real objective will be to develop a following that can sustain the club.

9. Whitehaven - "rebuilding" is the watchword here, which also implies further financial struggles. I can't see them doing much better than 9th.

10. Cornwall - new local owners will bring some initial increase in enthusiasm but they will continue to struggle with recruitment.

11. Newcastle - frankly I can't see where they are going. Performances last season were generally woeful and recruitment hasn't been exciting. I have no idea what sort of attendances they were getting, but it can't have been many.

 

With the new end of season format some clubs might have different strategies, concentrating on a steady build-up towards improvements as the season progresses and peaking at the play-off stage. Let's hope for an entertaining and exciting season in 2025.

Edited December 11, 2024 by Blind side johnny

[Indigogo]

Looking at the signings Crusaders have announced so far, I think they'll be up there. They've recruited primarily Swinton (Spedding, Cooper, Eaves) and Widnes (Brookes, Roby, Wilde) plus Olly Davies. There's apparently more to come as well. I'd probably be changing my predictions already and would have Crusaders top 4 instead of Swinton.

[phildog]

Keighley, Swinton, Dewsbury, Rochdale for me. Keighley, though popular favourites could suffer if they pick up a few injuries from their best line-up as their back-ups don't look over-experienced, Lions and Rams, regardless of new squads, have the experience of Championship rugby and will be able to mould around the players retained.

[Blind side johnny]

Returning to this thread and the question has been asked if there will actually be a League Champion status worth competing for. I understand that there is going to be a one-off prize for first place in the league, speculated to be £25k (we got £2k two years ago) so there will be a bit of incentive but other than that nothing really.

As for the other top 4 places I don't think there is any real advantage for a higher position. In the Play-off 8's each team will play four games against the teams from the other divisions and I would guess that the only minor advantage might be in deciding who has the "easier" home games. There may be a slight benefit from the IMG gradings but it would be very marginal.

Incidentally, only 3 teams from the 8's will get a place in the Championship this year thanks to the ongoing process of levelling out the numbers in the lower leagues. To my way of thinking this would require an aspirational C1 club to win 3 of their 4 games to have a hope of moving up. Quite a task. This could be the first year to my knowledge where there is no club promoted out of the bottom league. This play-off system, with no automatic promotion, will continue to apply from 2026 onwards.

Edited January 13 by Blind side johnny

[Hugh Jarce]

28 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

Returning to this thread and the question has been asked if there will actually be a League Champion status worth competing for. I understand that there is going to be a one-off prize for first place in the league, speculated to be £25k (we got £2k two years ago) so there will be a bit of incentive but other than that nothing really.

As for the other top 4 places I don't think there is any real advantage for a higher position. In the Play-off 8's each team will play four games against the teams from the other divisions and I would guess that the only minor advantage might be in deciding who has the "easier" home games. There may be a slight benefit from the IMG gradings but it would be very marginal.

Incidentally, only 3 teams from the 8's will get a place in the Championship this year thanks to the ongoing process of levelling out the numbers in the lower leagues. To my way of thinking this would require an aspirational C1 club to win 3 of their 4 games to have a hope of moving up. Quite a task. This could be the first year to my knowledge where there is no club promoted out of the bottom league. This play-off system, with no automatic promotion, will continue to apply from 2026 onwards.

It looks like relegation from the Championship was a much bigger problem than we all thought.

No quick return?

[grumpyoldram]

58 minutes ago, Hugh Jarce said:

It looks like relegation from the Championship was a much bigger problem than we all thought.

No quick return?

Has that ever been the clubs intention.  I get the impression that we are just treading water until the fate of the Championship is finally decided, and that Mark no longer sees the point in throwing money at what might be an unnecessary/pointless attempt at promotion. On hindsight we might have been better served by missing out in 2023. Looking at the squad, I think mid table will be a good result, and the best players will be the old stagers Sykes and Fergie p[us Day. If the club is allowed to use it's off-field investments to their full potential, a season of consolidation might not be a bad thing, but if not I fear for our club. I can't see MS throwing his own money at the club for too much longer, but desperately hope I'm wrong. I hope my observations are not taken as criticism, it is not intended to be, but taking the pessimistic view means I won't be disappointed if I'm right, and I'll be chuffed if I'm wrong.