a lot has been made of leeds supposed decline, largely based on how they finished last season. however burrow, leuluai, ablett, mcquire, peacock and sinfield are all still there along with plenty of back up. they will still be top 5 though if they start poor their coach could be the first to go.



the real test will come the year after when possibly all of the above players could retire

id like to see us finish in the top 6, though finishing in 7th or 8th is improvement on last year!



read the thread on the VT regarding the 2015 table, i think a few people will be suprised by us, certainly writing us off, cas fans being the main, amazing when you have one good season you get blinded by the forthcoming, (just like us last season)



top 4 for me are wigan, saints, wire and catalan (providing carney behaves)



hudds and leeds next which leaves 7 and 8 place



salford, probably favourites to fill one of the last two places, have the squad to compete, nothing much after the 17 so providing they stay fit and hock keeps his cool, they should be ok



cas if they can get over the loss of players like huby, snyed (who many claim was over-rated but came top in stats), weller whats his name they could remain in the 8 but many teams will be out to get them including us, kr widnes and wakey, no suprise element next season



widnes, after a good start last season, catching a few teams cold, dropped like stone in the second half, only raising their game against their bigger rivals! not many new signings, cant see them making the 8



us, tough start could put us behind the 8 ball straight away, two new halves, much needed and improved on last season should see us win more of the closer games that we lost last season, 7th or 8th for us, discipline must be adressed!



rovers, so many new signings could mean a slow start, if they gel quickly i wouldnt be suprised to see them battle with us, salford and cas for the last two spots





wakey, always written off by many, will get the odd suprise result, probably beat us at home too bottom 4

Not having as big a squad as everybody else Wakey will be hoping for more than most a relatively injury free season, as will everybody else and barring a disastrous run of injuries will get more than the odd surprise result, and as for beating you we come to expect it now as against in the past hoping to beat you

The odd suprise result was meant to be aimed at the likes of leeds or wigan like last season, but like yourselves who èxpect to beat us, you are a club we should expect to beat at home

Got to disagree with you there Staffs. A Hull FC team giving 100% effort and committment would and should have won all three games. Against Widnes we could have played till midnight and not scored, against Wakey we fell apart as soon as they scored their second and we couldn't beat a Bradford team who pretty much everyone else did and who had nothing to play for.



We can't expect to beat the likes of Wigan, Leeds and Wire week in and week out, but we need to learn to put away the lesser teams.

I couldn't agree more with your last statement. But none of what you said there relates to effort and commitment. It's easy to see when a team are not trying. I don't think that was the case last year.

With a relatively unchanged squad and some added PROVEN Super league halfs id like to think we can finish top six but realistically getting into the eight would be acceptable. Not in the eight would be a disgrace and would signal an even bigger decline in fan numbers and support for the club.



Still not sure on the make up of the squad though tbh. We seem to have to many average to good players for me with more average to good back ups when I thought we was supposed to be going down the quality with youngsters with promise for back up. If we don't get many injuries theres gonna be too much quality/cap spend sat in the stands week in week out

I'm surprised that most people think if we get into the 8 then the team is realising its potential. Given we are spending the full salary cap, like most of the other teams, why should the fans be settling for 7th / 8th? Our recruitment according to people at the club is spot on and squad balance is good too, complemented by a host of emerging youngsters then I will be disappointed if we scrape into 7th / 8th. I hope the team are aiming higher than the fans expectations.

That Bradford team who you say everyone beat were actually on a good run beating Wigan at home and Leeds at Headingley around the same time but don't let s the facts get in the way.

Fair point.



But don't let the facts get in the way of what?

I don't think people are settling for 7th/8th as such, just that 8th is the absolute bare minimum the team has to achieve next season. 7th/8th would be a decent improvement on our position last year too, I'm not saying I'd be happy with 7th/8th, but satisfied I think, providing the rugby was decent, and there were signs that the team can improve further still the following season.

Spot on.



Effort and commitment at times was seriously lacking and led to some poor performances.



They showed what they can achieve towards the end of the season when showing the commitment to keep Rovers scoreless and beat Saints and Leeds.