Just been looking at last year's table which shows that the lowest placed team in the top 8 at the split was catalans with 20 points. This would leave us only needing 3 wins in our last 12 games which should be a formality however I can see the bar being a bit higher this year with 9 teams currently on 10 points or above so maybe we need 4 wins to be sure which should still be comfortably doable.

Top 4 at the split was 28 points which would be 7 wins from our remaining games - still achievable IMO if we keep players fit and start to find a bit more of an attacking edge.

Top 4 after the final 7 games was 38 points and above which would see us needing 24 points from the 38 on offer between now and season end. Not sure about this myself but hopeful that with the demise of leeds and huddersfield we can sneak into the play offs.

Using the same assumptions, leeds need to win 7 of their final 11 games to make the 8 and 16 of 18 to make the 4. A bit unlikely that last one.

Tall order now for leeds and hudds to make the 8

We should make the top eight unless we have a dramatic collapse.

I agree that seven wins from twelve would probably mean a top four place at the end of the first stage of the season which would give us the benefit of four home games in the Super 8s. I'd be pretty happy with 5th or even 6th at the split if we are in a position to push on for the top four.

I'd still not bet against Leeds making the top eight. If they missed out it would make the middle eight interesting, not a good year to be in there. If Salford lose points due a salary cap breach then the middles eights could be Leeds, Huddersfield, Salford, Rovers, Leigh, London, Bradford, Batley.

I'd be happy with 6th. Next 6 games are massive; after them we'll have played Wigan, Catalans and Saints twice, in theory giving a reasonable regular round run-in. I can't see us progressing in the cup so league position is really important.

Oh ye of little faith MrsB. (I actually think you're right though).

I'll be very disappointed if we either don't make the top 4 or be within 2 points of it.

Yeah second that.

You're not exactly setting the bar high there Mrs B. You'd be happy if we go out of the cup in our first match and if we slip two places in the league?

Top 4 or bust for me. It's 50/50 whether we progress in the cup or not.

I think the target is to match our first half of the season (7/11) and win at Magic too. That would put us on 30 going into the split.

We're in a good position to move forward into the 2nd half of the comp but IMO we're still not playing that well. Good in patches, poor in others but overall it's our lack of attacking threat/capability that is costing us. Losing close games where one more score would win it could be the difference between top 4 and scraping in around 7th or 8th. It may be that we're just missing key personnel (down to washbrook in the halves at leeds) so hopefully with pryce back things will improve but we need to be winning at least half of our remaining games to be in with any shout of the top 4 come the play offs

Just being consistent and realistic. I said 6th pre season. The challenge to back up in the second half is that teams like Cas, Salford, Wakey are more desperate. Much as I would love to win it, the cup tie at Saints looks very difficult as they have returning players; from a league campaign perspective it would probably be better to lose that one, but personally I'd take progression in the cup as a priority. I think today will be a big indicator of where we are.

Pre season predictions were based on the likelihood wigan and hudds would continue to be genuine top 4 contenders. As it is there is an opportunity for other clubs to take advantage. We finished the pre split in 7th last season so it would be going backwards in real terms if we were below 5th come the split. Of those who finished below us last year, only les cats look to have made significant progress (although wakey are obviously much better than this time last season).

Where are we compared to last year's comparable results? Ahead with home wins against hudds and wire but also lost to cas which we won last time and also won in France so we're 4 points ahead and a chance to go 6 up if we win today.

I think we've missed a couple of big opportunities against poor wigan and leeds teams so far to really cement our push for the top 4 and games like that could ultimately be the difference come the season end

I don't agree that you can take into account that Huddersfield are worse but disregard Catalans improvement - to me they play a draw. We do have an opportunity, but so do other teams; I agree we may well rue the Leeds and Wigan outcomes.

Are we 4 points ahead - I make it 2, but could be wrong?
Salford H Won - same
Cats A Won - better
Cas H - Lost - worse
Wigan H - Lost - same
Widnes A - Lost - worse
Wakefield H - Won - same
Rovers A - Won - same
Warrington H - Won - better
Saints A - Won - same
Huddersfield H - Won - better
Leeds A - Lost - same

I forgot about the widnes result so yes, only 2 points ahead so not that much improvement points wise which is disappointing. Re the rest, I don't really measure improvement by being better than team who have obviously gone backwards, but against those who are as good or better than last year as this is what ultimately will be required to advance and see us really challenging. No point being better than a poor leeds or hudds side if we're still miles off the best team in the comp IMO. If we finish the season only a win or two ahead of last year it will be a poor outcome for me.

I don't disagree that a couple of teams have gone backwards, but equally Catalans, Warrington, Salford, Wakefield and Widnes are all better this term with Cas and Saints about on par. I think you predicted 8th, so hopefully we can exceed this expectation.

Before the season I would have been happy with 5th or 6th and pushing for the top 4. Given how Leeds and Hudds have dropped off I think we now need to be in the 4 at the end to call it a good season.
Leeds have been very poor this season, but the young lads they are blooding look to be starting to make progress now and I wouldn't be surprised to see them contending again next season. In my opinion we have a Leicester City type situation in SL this year, and we should be taking advantage to try and win the competition.
If we fail and lose in a semi final I'll take that. A 6th place finish would be disappointing for me.

I said 7th or 8th but my expectation was that hudds and leeds would still be strong so really that 7th or 8th should now be 5th or 6th. You can play it down all you want but anything below 6th this season really would be a poor outcome now and below what this group of players should be achieving. if we finished 6th but were in with a chance of top 4 with a couple of round left I'd say that was a decent enough season.

cas have been really badly hit with injuries so they're doing well to be where they are. It will be interesting to see how saints go with a few players back now.

widnes are looking pretty gash, salford will be bottom 4 with a points deduction although you are right that wakey are better but they did still beat us last year

I'm not playing anything down, I'm agreeing on 6th, which was what I thought pre season given Catalans strengthening and Leeds likely to miss Sinfield and co.

So 5th it is then, what with hudds in freefall. Surprised you thought we'd finish above leeds though as I don't remember seeing you post that but I'm sure you can show me where you did

Quote ="Jake the Peg"So 5th it is then, what with hudds in freefall. Surprised you thought we'd finish above leeds though as I don't remember seeing you post that but I'm sure you can show me where you did'" The chat on this was mostly here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=590677 Well, I don't think I mentioned Leeds specifically, but expected Salford and Catalans to be better. Quote ="Mrs Barista"I agree that it looks like the league will be tighter, but whilst we've strengthened some others have too. Catalans could have a very good year with their improved squad and Salford too with Sheens in charge. We finished above both at the break so that's a concern - you have to improve just to stand still. Saints and Cas are interesting. Could we catch either? Tough ask. I agree on Hudds/Brough, but they've been in and around the four for a while. Very interesting season coming up, and looking forward to seeing what our upgraded pack can do.'" I think you were a little more pessimistic and forthright. As you say, talk of top 4 is nonsense. Quote ="Jake the Peg"Year on year we have fans claiming we'll be top 4 and year on year we're nowhere near. My opinion is that our halfs aren't good enough and houghton's attacking play is below par for a team with any aspiration in the comp. washbrook can maybe be a stop gap to give houghton a breather for 10 minutes, and hopefully we won't lose games in that time, but if houghton gets injured we're fubar'd. fonua aside, our outside backs are either promising youngsters or average at best. Talk of top 4 is nonsense. Personally, my hope is that we get into the 8 without any dramas but doubt we'll make an impact the same as we didn;t last year'" Quote ="Jake the Peg"I share your concerns over players in key positions. I don't see us finishing any higher than 6th and more likely 7th or 8th. This squad should be finishing in the top 8 but injuries to a couple of key players could see us at risk of ending up in the middle 8's IMO. We'll still come up short in big games. sneyd is hit and miss, abdul is still too young to be running games and pryce has never had the skill set we require and will likely spend half of the games injured. We'll still struggle to score enough tries'"

Quote ="Jake the Peg"So 5th it is then, what with hudds in freefall. Surprised you thought we'd finish above leeds though as I don't remember seeing you post that but I'm sure you can show me where you did'" The chat on this was mostly here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=590677 Well, I don't think I mentioned Leeds specifically, but expected Salford and Catalans to be better. Quote ="Mrs Barista"I agree that it looks like the league will be tighter, but whilst we've strengthened some others have too. Catalans could have a very good year with their improved squad and Salford too with Sheens in charge. We finished above both at the break so that's a concern - you have to improve just to stand still. Saints and Cas are interesting. Could we catch either? Tough ask. I agree on Hudds/Brough, but they've been in and around the four for a while. Very interesting season coming up, and looking forward to seeing what our upgraded pack can do.'" I think you were a little more pessimistic and forthright. As you say, talk of top 4 is nonsense. Quote ="Jake the Peg"Year on year we have fans claiming we'll be top 4 and year on year we're nowhere near. My opinion is that our halfs aren't good enough and houghton's attacking play is below par for a team with any aspiration in the comp. washbrook can maybe be a stop gap to give houghton a breather for 10 minutes, and hopefully we won't lose games in that time, but if houghton gets injured we're fubar'd. fonua aside, our outside backs are either promising youngsters or average at best. Talk of top 4 is nonsense. Personally, my hope is that we get into the 8 without any dramas but doubt we'll make an impact the same as we didn;t last year'" Quote ="Jake the Peg"I share your concerns over players in key positions. I don't see us finishing any higher than 6th and more likely 7th or 8th. This squad should be finishing in the top 8 but injuries to a couple of key players could see us at risk of ending up in the middle 8's IMO. We'll still come up short in big games. sneyd is hit and miss, abdul is still too young to be running games and pryce has never had the skill set we require and will likely spend half of the games injured. We'll still struggle to score enough tries'"

Wigan are joint top on points, third on points difference. I'd say they're contending.

Hudds I'll give you.

Who would've predicted Huddersfield/Leeds 13 games in would be a clash of the bottom 2?

Your predictions are generally wrong so there's no need to try and justify them. If some 'expected' teams don't perform then that's to the potential benefit of all the others. So if many of the other teams are beating them then why would 7th or 8th suddenly become the equivalent of 5th or 6th ? Ridiculous argument to make in a league structure.

Pains me to say it but Rovers winning today is a good one for us.

We are now five clear of Cas with their supercoach Powell. Four clear of 6th placed Widnes who we've still to play at home. A shame that Saints got a win on Friday.

Good points, agreed.

Quote ="Mrs Barista"The chat on this was mostly here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=590677 Well, I don't think I mentioned Leeds specifically, but expected Salford and Catalans to be better. I think you were a little more pessimistic and forthright. As you say, talk of top 4 is nonsense. '" Pretty much bob on with most of what I said the, just didn't factor in leeds and hudds being shoite. So can you dig me up these posts where your predictions were based on us finishing above leeds and hudds?

Quote ="Mrs Barista"The chat on this was mostly here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=590677 Well, I don't think I mentioned Leeds specifically, but expected Salford and Catalans to be better. I think you were a little more pessimistic and forthright. As you say, talk of top 4 is nonsense. '" Pretty much bob on with most of what I said the, just didn't factor in leeds and hudds being shoite. So can you dig me up these posts where your predictions were based on us finishing above leeds and hudds?

You'd be all over them every week if they were