Very true last year we player the top 3 teams 10 times in the regular super league rounds all together 6 of which were away from home.

Correct.

yes its a massive month
mr frisk

Every month is important, not exactly massive, but sept/oct is critical

I see what he's saying, the team that ends up winning the league tends to break away right from the start. On paper we should win all four of those first games, however we never seem to start the season well, maybe that's due to conditioning (ensuring we peak around the play offs/final rather than at the start of the season) or maybe just a lack of team chemistry early on. The last time we won our first four games of the season was in 2001 when we went on to finish second and make the final. If we win our first four this year I'll be very impressed, even if there are no big sides there.

If it's a run of tough games your looking for though look at mid July - mid August! Bradford away, Leeds home, Saints away, Warrington at home all in a row. How well we stand up to that will have a massive bearing on where we finish as surely all of those sides and ourselves will be in and around the top 6 (sorry, 8

)

Hmm, don't agree at all there. Saints finished top last year, yet after round 10, they were in 7th.

in 2007 Saints finsihed top, and after round 6, they were 6th.

In terms of the league table, just winning your games at any stage is important. In terms of winning the SL Title, winning and playing well in the last month is crucial.

As a Wire fan we were sitting pretty in 4th, until round 23 when we hit bad form. We then lost the last 4, and the playoff game.

This 100%

I think all of us just want some consistant rugby and if we do that results will come

As long as we find some consistency within in the first few games we will be okay.

Yes he first months game look winable but we need to hit the straps in terms of consistency and a higher level of performance and get a settled team on the park.

Do you really think so?


Imo it matters not one jot how we play in Feb, Mar or April. It's all about how the team is performing at the end of the season, especially now under the crazy new playoff system.


e.g. Imagine a team who gets off to a flyer, wins every single game, then chokes, loses their final 6 games, but still limps home in top position.

Compare this to a team that gets off to a nightmare start, loses every game, ends up bottom of the table but then finds its feet, wins the last 6 games of the season, and finishes in 8th place, fired up and ready to go.


Who would your money be on?


Of course these are extreme examples, but as ever, hyperbole is often the best way to illustrate a line of argument.

It would be good to rack up some points in the first month if we can as points difference at the end of the season could be the difference between 1st to 4th spot this year i feel

www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/0 ... -news.html

www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/0 ... -news.html

Now thats what I call massive

Jeez imagine that trying to get into your tent!

You would have to have a bloody big tent for it to get in, in the first place.

As a side note opportunity missed by the photographer i feel, as with a bit more angle work and imgination he could have made out like it was a comedy bow tie for the young lad.

It does matter...and as profesional sportsmen to the players it WILL matter.... just look back to the season from hell, don't try to believe that a good start is not important. And don't get into the semantics about how we ended where we did, a good start would have made things very different. A good start and growing confidence will help us to win games in the backs. The pack is still weak as it stands, and good confident ball play will be the way we will HAVE to win games...

Hell yes!!


Good job you ain't got relegation to worry about, eh Rick??