As the leader of the club, Hudge has had to deal with some incredibly difficult times of the last couple of years and now with the added investment and new board members, he's maybe thought it's time to stop being conservative with his pre-season hopes.
First things first, despite Pearson's promises over the last couple of years such as signing 2 of SL's top-four half-backs, 6 internationals, finishing top-four, the 2011 play-off defeat will never happen again blah blah, all of these promises have not been met yet apart from some ridicule, those false promises have enabled the mugs to part with their cash for his benefit.
I think this statement of hoping we finish 5th or 6th is strategic for a few reasons:-
1) It shows he expects to improve on last season so we are moving forward as a club again.
2) The timing is perhaps targeted at those still undecided as today's price freeze deadline has been approaching.
3) The statement sends out a message to the local media that their attention should be perhaps focused the other side of the river.
4) The fact he's even dared to mention we could finish 5th is a small but subtle indication that he feels the squad is capable of breaking into that perceived impenetrable group.
Of the clubs fighting for the bottom play-off places, something has to give because one of Salford, Rovers, FC and Catalan will not make the eight.
I personally think that Salford will miss out simply because they don't have a lot of depth but it could easily be FC with their dodgy recruitment policy and poor salary cap management.
Happy days!!!
