Ideally I'd have the halfback or hooker as captain but none of the current players in those position are skipper material as yet.

Not sure how much of a talker Webster is.

I'll be amazed if Crossley isn't the captain next season.

FWIW my 17 would be

McNally/Pickersgill
Hitchcox
Webster
Oakes/Gibson
Ryan
Keyes
Chisholm
Crossley
Wildie
Green
Farrell/Storton
Garside/Minchella
Wood/Hallas/Minchella

Bustin
Peltier
Flanagan/Lilley
Hallas/Storton/Wood

As you can see I'm struggling to pick our starting pack! Always good to have options I suppose

who would you see the top 5 ending up being?
toronto - widnes - toulouse - halifax

but who else?

you would expect us to be beating the likes of rochdale and swinton

barrow, dewsbury, sheffield, york and batley we should be at least competitive with

which just leads us with fev and leigh. and who knows how strong they are going to be, especially leigh, who dont know who is going to playing for them next season

so that last top 5 spot does seem up for grabs

For the first time in a long while we look strong up front. I was a bit concerned about the lack of mongrel a while back but I think some players have grown up and become less of a soft touch. Take Mikey Wood, he's really come on and puts himself about a bit now.

The central funding allocation in this division makes me really nervous.
I think there are plans to level the funding out a bit but I still get anxious thinking about what we've budgeted for compared to where we actually end up.
You only need to look at Leigh (and ourselves a couple of years ago) to see what can happen when you get it wrong.

im hoping pickersgill gets more games over mcnally
and i want to see more of storton too, he really impressed when he came in towards the end of the season

I think Fev will be in the same group as us Barrow, Dewsbury, Batley, Sheffield and York. Probably the upper end because even though they've lost a few players they're accustomed to this level and have recruited a few decent players too in the Boas brothers.

Poor Leigh look like they're doomed unless they can rustle up a squad from somewhere quick.

i do feel very sorry for the leigh fans. it feels too close to what we have had to go through in the past

doesnt it feel nice to be having a pre season where we can discuss the first team, instead of not knowing if we will actually have a team

I think the levelling out of the central allocations should mean less of a cliff edge for clubs, provided the owner hasn’t gone all in on a bid for promotion. I think we’re in a better position as we’ll get a bigger allocation in 2019 and again in 2020 provided we don’t get relegated.



I think Storton is probably just behind Minchella, Farrell and Garside for a spot. He’s done really well considering he’s had some bad injuries. John Bastian thinks he’ll do really well with the benefit of tough pre season training. He’ll be in the 19 man squad often enough I reckon.

At fullback I think there’ll be some really healthy competition. If McNally can get fully fit he still gets the nod for me.

Pickersgill
Hitchcox
Webster
Gibson
Ryan
Keyes
Chisholm
Crossley
Wildie
magrin
Farrell
Storton
Minchella

Bustin
Peltier
Flanagan
Wood

close call between green and magrin

I would think Crossley will be captain, with my lad vice captain, as it was for last couple of month of this season. Not heard anything that’s just my opinion

in your first 17, would you have your lad at SR or LF?

Top 5 for me this year:

Toronto
Widnes
Toulouse
Halifax
Bradford

I think this year with a fairly stable good team we have a really decent chance teams such as fev and Dewsbury and Sheffield have had massive turnovers of players we have been stable though fev I admit have got the boas brothers they have a young squad and though there forwards look big, playing in the Academy and having Ross Peltier running at you he’ll for leather on a cold rainy February are 2 different things

Sub.

I think he’s better at loose with the freedom it gives him to roam about, but having said that a lot of his tries backing up this season were from 2nd row. I do think he’s a better loose than a 2nd row though

No comparison in my opinion. Green seriously impressed me in the short time he was with us this year. Magrin is solid if unspectacular. Green has a dangerous offloading game as well as some decent mongrel returning the ball. Obviously all about opinion, be a boring place if we all shared the same. I think Bustin will be the one competing with magrin for the 4th prop spot. Be interesting how he steps up to the championship (not that im doubting he can) as all his first team experience has been in league 1 so far

McNally definitely to start the season and hopefully he has better luck with injuries this time. Pickersgill could well be first choice FB by the end of the season.

McNally
Hitchcox
Webster
Gibson
Ryan
Keyes
Chisholm
Crossley
Wildie
Green
Minchella
Storton
Wood

Peltier
Bustin
Farrell
Flanagan

Not as easy as it looks is it!

If Bustin can get fit he'll go really well, he did look a bit overweight at the back end of the year and if I was a halfback or speedy hooker I'd be looking to exploit him in defence as he sometimes plants his feet or is slow getting up and working from marker. Funnily enough it's defence where I think Kirk really shines but he doesn't take the ball up and make yards like Bustin.

I think Green is a real plus off the bench with Peltier. Magrin's steady as you say - I'd have him as 5th choice.

From the thread, we look to have some real depth for a long hard season.

I think Toronto, Toulouse & Widnes are nailed on for the play-offs. I think it will be a fight between us, York, Fev, Fax & Sheffield for the other two spots.

The signings Fev have made look real quality. However they have lost a lot of players and don't seem to have a huge amount signed up (happy to be corrected Fev fans) think their starting 17 can beat anyone, but a few injuries and they may struggle.

Fax are always competitive and always difficult to beat. There seems some frustration on their board at lack of recruitment but i expect them to be there or there abouts

York are riding a crest of a wave and Sheffield look to be gathering a handy team, similar to one thats brought then success in the past.

While last season was a bore, next season looks like its gonna be a cracker.

Fev will also have dual reg with Leeds so I fully expect them to be in with a shout of the 5.

Fax should also be in the 5. They've done the business for the past few years and know what it takes to get there. That's our main weakness IMO, we look great on paper but we're coming off the back of a season in L1 and it will be much much tougher in 2019. Some of our new recruits know what it takes in the championship but it will be a shock to some others.

i dont really disagree with you
i think i was swayed by magrin already having a few years experience in the championship and looking solid last time he was with us

McNally
Hitchcox
Webster
Gibson
Ryan
Keyes
Chisholm
Crossley
Wildie
Green
Garside
Minchella
Wood

Peltier
Magrin
Flanagan/Lilley- probably rotate
Farrell

Well as I said previously, we managed to pick up 6 wins with no team the last time we were in the Championship.

This time round, we've a good, solid team and a lot of depth across the squad without the need to rely on a team full of loan players

I don't expect us to walk the league, but I would say we have a good shot of making top 5

There are some good teams being posted in this thread. I like the look of the squad for this season.

It is pleasing that for the first time in years we have a winning team that we have managed to keep together (great to have continuity) and add to with a few key signings that definitely improve the group.

The development in the younger lads who will be a year older, will have another season and full pre-season under their belt will I’m sure be evident.

I actually think that coming 2nd last year will actually be seen as a positive.

Many of the team won't have played in any type of play-off rugby before and the pressure of the situation will help with the experience within the group.

Certainly 2019 will be a tougher competition for us week on week as we're unlikely to have massive blow-outs like we had this year. But again, I think that's a good thing for the team too as this year we got complacent at times when playing teams who really weren't near us in terms of skill and ability

This has already been touched on and I massively agree not just on the field but there was a feeling of connecting with the fanbase again. To have 6k all paying through the turnstiles was amazing. People who haven't been for years went enjoyed and talk of them getting tickets for this year. It definitely seemed to help the club more without doubt