Remember them well. I used to be convinced as a kid that we would never win anything..

It was character building to visit Wembley year after year in the forlorn hope that Wigan wouldn't spank you by 30 points.

All though getting to see THAT Offiah try being scored pretty much right in front of me at Wembley is something that will live with me forever, so that sugared the pill a little.

I hate watching it even now. Even worse is Jason Robinson at OT

Yep saw both those tries live. We deserved that first GF win actually, really unfair on Daz Fleary to be the guy twinkle does danced around to win it. Great tries though

I was thinking that the recent flush of signings reminded me of the Laughton era, or at least the year we brought in Clyde, Mullins, Carroll and Mears... 2000?

How long is it since opposition fans have sung 'what a waste of money' to a Leeds team? Or even our own fans? [that would have been appropriate last season, perhaps I missed that not going to games any more

I'm more optimistic than many who have posted on this thread already, but at the same time I think there's scope for a lot to go wrong with so many changes to both the coaching team and the playing roster.

We should expect a return to the top half of the table, or better, although it may take them a few weeks to gel. Hopefully any potential dissent over players leaving and having to accept different roles in the team can be minimised. Plenty to look forward to - in terms of the new signings, how existing players respond to the new regime, and younger players coming through.

I always remember that day, it was sooo hot. Bonnie Tyler pre match ent and an old dean bell nearly catching a young franny C!! Great game, we were nearly there....but back in those days we all got used to a 200 miles very silent return trip home!!

I’ll always remember that day/weekend, was the first time I went to Wembley with my dad (now sadly not with us) to watch Leeds in a final, he buggered off to get a pint a couple of minutes before Offiah scored so never saw it!

Thankfully we both went to Wembley in 99 so got to see them win a trophy together but he left us in 2001 (aged 49) so unfortunately never got to see the team from 2004 onwards - such a shame as he woukd have loved every minute watching the side we have had for 13+ years

Roll on next season. Cant wait. Well done Kev n Gary.

Don't worry Christopher,your dad will have made every tackle,kicked the goals and scored the tries.!
Keep smiling Go the Rhinos 2019

Ditto.

I think the rebuild has some way to go yet so I think you'll finish 6-9th (which is an improvement nonetheless). There's still a lack of power up front, especially in the front row. Where's the player that consistently makes 100m+ in every game? (difficult to replace Peacock but the gap is clear) Where's the impact prop off the bench that can turn things your way with some big carries? (Garbutt was the nearest you had). I think you're 2 props short of a top 5 finish.

I'd be careful bringing youngsters into a team that might struggle at times. Could ruin them. You can't expect those players to win you games. They're a bonus if they come through. It's the 1st teamers that need to raise their game.

The halfbacks are going to be a new combo too so it won't be champagne rugby from the off. There will be a new coach "bounce" but expect it to be tough at times.

With an excellent Ozzy coach and strong management team backing Furner I would expect to be in the mix after an initial settling period of say 4 games to be in with a really positive first season like CC semi &/or top 4 in playoffs.

I would expect Furner to want at least that and for me personally I would like us to at least give Cas a game home and away being our bogey team and my dream is seeing our new Overseas players charging at Hardaker when we play Wigan and trampling him into the ground like a rag doll

A good assessment that.

I will say one of my hopes for 2019 is for a strong Bulls side to make a oush to get back to SL as I think it would be great to have them back. I don’t know much about the squad but is this likely at all?

All fair points though I'm hopeful we can get into the 5. We may yet sign that 100m player and even if we don't then improvements to fitness and conditioning which last year were - to quote Mick Morgan - diabolical might mean we can wring those extra metres from others.

Win more than we lose against Castleford!!!

I think everyone agrees re. the pack, and front row in particular. Singleton and Crosby are solid but not spectacular: Oledzki is a year or two off still yet but has a part to play. Peteru needs to play somewhere, possibly prop. Couple of very good young prospects coming up after Oledzki from the academy. Deffo need at least one more impact prop (which the club has recognised the need for, if rumours are true).

However, I'm going to be positive and suggest Leeds will offload the players needed to bring in the quality prop, before the start of next season. Of course everything depends on injuries again, but with the prop in place I still think Leeds will be right back up there again. Myler and Lolohea are experienced halves who've played to a high level, I don't expect them to take ages to perform. As soon as we get a competitive/dominant pack together, the halves and backline should cause problems for most teams. It's not often a SL side has had such a massive overhaul in one off season as Leeds have just had, it's going to be almost impossible to predict how they'll go but I'm pretty confident they'll be out of the bottom half of the table no matter what.

Glad to see we are off loading dead wood, or in the process of doing so and have made a few good signings.new coach and a bit of a fresher feel about things at last. I'm looking forward to a season again for the first time in god knows how long,and intrigued to see what style and approach to games Furner takes.

Overall if we can get another strong front rower in i see no reason with that squad we can't push for a play off spot, we have probably the best centre pairing in the league so hopefully we can get the best out of them.

I think a big key for our season is down to how Watkins comes back from such a bad injury and can Stevie Ward stay fit. If both those are positive we can go well.

Wigan have lost some top players but always seem to fill gaps well. Saints have lost Barba but have recruited better than anyone in my opinion and are the team to beat. Cas and Wire will be challenging but we won't be far off.

Just hope we play a better brand of rugby. I want to leave The Emerald on match days having enjoyed it which is something I can't say I have for a long time.

The Emerald. Arrrrgggghhh boulderdash.
FWIW I think we’re one decent prop away from being contenders this year. Contenders for silverware that it

Think we'v had the best recruitment of anyone, wouldnt of thought in a million years we'd be signing Merrin, Hurrell and Lolohea in one offseason and McCllellends one of the best youngsters in the whole british game. Saints have done well but think our signings are of better quality.

I was a big critic of Mcdermott and of Lowes/Sinfield taking on the first team after him, so with a coach who i think will get much better performances from the existing players and some quality recruitment, im hoping and expecting to see some good, well structured attacking rugby and a 3rd to 5th place finish

The best signings we have made is the coach, and changing the conditioner. That will have a big effect, a big imorovement.

In terms of recruitment, we needed a big change. But to look at reality, it really only boils down to changes rather than individuals. By that I mean, we now have a proper stand off, and a quality one. We now have gone back to two quality centres. And we are back to a leader in the pack.

However, is Hurrell really a big imorovement on Moon at centre? Not so sure, but will be glad to see it. I think people are tainted on Moon because of his final year. Briscoe is a massive downgrade on Hall. We have lost Garbutt, replaced with a quality individual in Merrin, an improvement. But an injury to Merrin and back to where we were, as currently stands.

McClelland I agree on, massive potential, but that is potential, and won’t come out if we keep persevering with Sutcliffe instead, as is the norm.

Not been negative on it, I am just been realistic, that there is still a lot of if’s.

To be Frank I really don't care where we finish this year, all I want is to see entertaining games and come away from Headingly with a smile on my face. I think silverware may be a little too ambitious but to be challanging will be a "right result"

Yup, lots of ifs. Re Moon, to me it seemed his powers were on the wane (see what I did there?) so Hurrell's probably an improvement. As it stands, the biggest loss from Hall is the metres he made running the ball out. IF we sign more grunt up front the effects of his loss will diminish. But it's pretty unrealistic to suppose we'd sign his equal and in any case wing is lower priority than some of the issues that have been addressed. Injuries can scupper any side though with the front row we seem stuck with, we may be in a parallel version of that scenario already. Also, no-one seems to have mentioned our kicking game. Stank last year, albeit our field positions were poor. Do we have the right mix of talents to address this?

That's fair enough assessment and pretty much how i would see it. Next year is about true transition at last though, the changes made so far are encouraging and i expect more big changes to be made during the next summer when Furner will know who he wants and doesn't and has chance to identify what he needs.