Quote ="Prop9824"I agree, good post, I think the score lines are suggesting we are in a lot poorer position than we actually are,
1. As stated the Super 8,s will never be fully supported unless at that stage all points are scrapped and all 8 teams have a genuine chance of the top 4
2. We may have been a victim of our own success, our squad was a vast improvement pushing us from bottom to the Super 8,s , but no to take us to the next level, I would say we are still 4-5 players away from competing for top 4.
3. Let's face facts we have been savaged by injuries of late , and even with players returning, Super 8's arnt as forgiving,
Let's just take stock of the whole season, we have made a good foundation of moving the club forward, Improving fitness coach, good signings, removing dead wood, next season will be the proof of did we take advantage of this seasons over achievement and show consistency of another Super 8's finish and good cup run or was it a case of good while it lasted and we slump back into the basement.
One thing is for sure teams will be back stronger, no one will rest on past achievements, it's always a case of requiring continued investment without that past dreams will fade,, can we get the investment to take use to the next step?? Maybe not there lies the problem, we loose best young talent to meet the lack of investment, it's a viscous circle, and I take my hat off to MC how he's got the club where it is at this moment in time,, after Smith popping smoke after 5 games, just a bit of food for thought for some of the more negative posts.'"
If you zero the points after the first 23 rounds, there becomes little point in playing them.
Just because clubs like Trinity cant get close enough to the top 4, doesnt mean that everyone should start on zero.
Imagine if we had finished in 4th or 5th (I know it seems unlikely) and we then started on zero in the Super 8's, we would be up in arms.
The point is to try and compete with the top of the league and whilst we have almost been consigned to 8'th spot since the start of the Super 8's, you have to remember how the table looked a few weeks ago.
Catalan 26 points
Castleford 21 points
Widnes 20 points
Trinity 20 points
And the table today
Catalan 28 points
Cas 27 points
Widnes 24 points
Trinity 20 points
The system is not at fault if the top of the table has pulled away from the other clubs.
We have simply struggled to perform when hit with an injury crisis and loss of form.
You could argue that the bottom 4 of the Super 8's are all in exactly the position that they finished in the regular season and if this is the case, Chester is absolutely right to protect his injured players and blood the youngsters but, similar to last season (when Webster said that we had nothing to play for until the last part of the season, the message that has been transmitted to the fans has been extremely negative and with all the uncertainty over where we will be playing next season, something positive needs to happen to inspire the fans to part with their hard earned cash to attend the remaining games and perhaps, more importantly, put their hands in their pockets and buy a season ticket.
It's critical that we dont drop supporter numbers below where they have been this season and it's going to be a hard sell when S/T's go on sale in the near future.
It's worth noting that, of all the clubs in the Super 8's, only Trinity have failed to register a win yet.
