Think there's a few that are tricky to predict next year.

Leeds will improve, just how much is tricky to say. They have a tough opening 4 games and how many points they get from them will set the tone.

Leigh, recruiting well and showed they can beat SL opposition in the Middle 8's. Just how well and quickly they settle into weekly contests against SL opposition is an unknown.

Huddersfield. Still got most of the squad that got into top 4 spots for a number of years. The question mark for me is Rick Stone. He managed to just scrape them over the line to safety, not sure yet how good he'll be for them over the course of a full new season.

Salford as a few have mentioned. Got good players to make the Top 8 but you feel they're never too far away from some drama centred around Koukash.

Hull. Won the cup and fell just short in the league. Got the team to do it again just a question of them having the focus and mindset to back up a successful season with another one. Consistency week upon week in a single season is one thing, consistency season upon season is another thing and only a few of the usual suspects achieve that.

Not so sure about Leigh. They made it into the top flight off the back of a team of ageing players enjoying their last hurrah after a season that was less taxing than that of the opposition, some of whom ended up there after being battered and bruised. Not sure how that roster will cope with the weekly rigours of the top flight. Huddersfield and Hull KR ended up there because they were physically depleted.

Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine!!!

To be fair, he is consistent in his continual running down of the game. I'd have thought he'd have found a different sport by now, but I applaud his determination to be persistently negative.

He's a got a fair point though - apart from Wigan beating Cronulla. That's just daft.

Thanks for a reasoned reply this time Code13.

I'm not saying you didn't have injuries, of course you did, but I still maintain that other teams with arguably less talented squads had it worse yet performed much better. As for the conditioning team, I wouldn't know about that, was it a new team to the one that had seen you be successful in previous years?

Maybe with a good preseason and a better coaching staff around him Rick Stone will get you firing again, who knows? But if I had to put my money one way or another, I'd put it on you being in the middle 8's again.

Leeds will improve but after looking at recruitment I'm struggling to see how they will improve significantly to challenge the top 4. Ditto Huddersfield. It's going to be interesting to see the bottom half this season as it could be a real battle to avoid the dread middle eights.

1. Wigan
2. St Helens
3. Warrington
4. Hull
5. Castleford
6. Catalan
7. Leeds
8. Wakefield
9. Salford
10. Huddersfield
11. Widnes
12. Leigh

In reality, I foresee those bottom 6 being really close and any one of them could finish in the top eight. Similarly, I think Cas will push for the top 4 but time will tell whether we can overcome the four sides I've listed, who all look really strong again.

I'm not making excuses, we finished where we did because ultimately we weren't good enough.
But at the beginning of the season, we were disrupted by various things, one of our Vice captains leaves due to a misdemeanour, which caused a rift throughout the squad, and various players (allegedly) coming to blows over it, the rift wasn't healed until the end of middle 8's (again,allegedly).
Our other Vice Captain retires days before the season starts, we then lose 4 of our most experienced and influential players within the first 3 weeks of the season through injury and other misdemeanours ( apparently) and our captain is stripped of the armband which causes more friction and rifts within the squad.
So within 3 weeks of the start of the season we have lost our entire leadership group and 3 more vastly experienced players, we then have to scrat around for retired players and players frozen out at supposed inferior teams on loan and call up 3 or 4 academy lads who have never even been near the first team environment.
In the first 9 games we had 6 different half back combinations, 7 different full backs, 6 different left sides, only Leroy and Jerry kept the same positions for the first 10 weeks of the season, by which time, having lost a number of close games, we possibly would have won with more know how and experience, confidence is completely shot to pieces and we would never get it back.
We also played some very poor stuff at times, but at times we were unlucky in games and sometimes wrong options and individual errors cost us dearly.
We also played well at times and showed glimpses of what we are capable of, I'm not saying we were too good to finish bottom, because the results don't lie, but we were nowhere near as bad as what people think we were, basically, the injuries and disruptions in the first few weeks of the season cost us in the end.
Sorry for the long winded way round, but i have tried to get my point(s) across.

For me Cas need to improve their defence before taking the next step into the top 4. 2nd most points conceded last year after the regular 23 rounds and roughly around 200 points more than the top 3.

As much as it's good to watch them ball in hand, when it comes to silverware you need a tighter defence, just look at the scorelines of this seasons two finals....12-10 & 12-6.

We will win the GF & CC.

I long for the day when I can use those words and people think that it's possible.

Why haven't you been on the Hull KR board recently? Has the jig monkey been banned again?

You won't be winning these cups will you bin dipper.

Agree with that. I think they will struggle when they get a few bumps and bruises and a few more miles on the legs.

Tbf it's not often a Hull fans gets to say something like that without being laughed at. It doesn't feel right looking forward to a season with genuine hope that this time we could win it all.

That said the last time I felt like this was probably 2007. I remember someone posting in their predictions on here (can't remember who but it wasn't a Hull fan) that if Hull don't finish top they should be ashamed of themselves. We finished 4th, lost Paul Cooke in the process, and faded into almost a decade of obscurity.

Kelly will make or break Hull this year imo. Sneyd helped Hull set a platform but they struggled in close games against tough defences which called for a bit of something different to break through. Kelly is that, and only that. If he fits in as the bit of magic, Hull will be a very good side. If he can't fit in, he will break the structure of a pretty structured Hull side and I think they will take a step or two back.

I genuinely think Leigh will have a good year. They had a useful squad anyway (even accounting for the age of some of them) and seem to have recruited pretty well. No show stopping signings but all decent and in most cases proven SL players. Plus winning is a habit, and they are pretty used to it. I think they will take a few scalps in the early part of the season and be sitting pretty for a while. I do also think that the rigours of SL will take their toll, but I think they will have done enough by then to stay out of trouble.

I think that might be the problem. Heavy legs and injuries going in to the final part of the year is a risky position to be in. Especially for a side unused to losing.

I can't argue with much of that, but I think it's important that we allow him to do his thing. He might well frustrate sometimes, but I don't think there's much point trying to get him to play a structured game, because that's not him.

That said, even if he has an off game, brute force and ignorance should get us over alot of teams, and if he really doesn't work out then you also have Connor and Tuimavave as good options at 6.

Ultimately, I would say that if Kelly is a success, we will win another trophy. If he flops, then we still have enough talent to be top 4, but it will most likely be close but no cigar again.

It's a fair point but our points against is unfortunately weighed down by two big spankings. (Warrington 58 and Hull KR 56).

We also copped a couple of 40 points defeats but I think we can put that down to attitude, injuries and general disruption.

For me, we need to be better against - without disrespect - sides we should be beating at home (KR, Salford, Widnes) and that should see us improve.

It's down to the coach to make sure he's fit, and that might be the key. It's easy to be the star turn in a less successful side. He's joining a side that can rightly expect to have a chance of winning the whole thing, and his standards have to rise. If he works, he'll be great to watch.

I'm split between this scenario and the one mentioned by others for Leigh. Lot of excitement and confidence running through the club for their long awaited for return to SL. If they can claim some scalps early on then the confidence and momentum could give them a shot at making the Top 8. Like mentioned though they aren't used to losing so how they cope when they inevitably have a bad patch will be interesting. Saw when they lost comfortably to Leeds at the end of the qualifiers that their discipline went out of the window so they need to sort that out when things aren't going there way.

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The thing is with all 12 clubs is the injury factor. Almost seems inevitable nowadays that several teams will have periods where they have large injury lists. How badly, how long, what players, and what time of the season in terms of trickier fixtures could be the difference between finishing 3/4/5 spots higher for any club.

Bin dipper? Is that really the best you can come up with? What is the point of you?

At least he can post on his own team's board

Some older & more experienced pro's are sometimes a blessing. I think our oldest players will be Mickey Higham 36, Gaz Hock 33 & Glenn Stewart 32 *33 by start of season*.

Whats important for Leigh, other than the squad, is that the club have recruited an NRL conditioning coach (no guarantee he will be better), Cooke is settled & undoubtedly has had a significant & positive influence in the coaching set up & Kieron Purtill is now with us too.

My fear is lack of pace in the backs, our pack is solid & a match for most, not sure about Vea though, looked a bit of a pudding at Saints.

If Leigh can be a force at home & pinch one or two away then, barring a bad injury run, we should be around 9th/10th giving us the extra home fixture in the 8's.

Beaumont has already stated that survival is the only goal & I would be happy with that.