Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:40 pm  

With the limited signings that we have made thios season, I think to ger into the top 8 would be a great achievement.
I think we are light in the forwards, no real big players to put the wind up the opposition, we are also weak in the threequarters. I hope I am wrong, but if we get off to a bad start, I think it will be difficult to recover. last season the fixtures were very kind to us. Wakefield, Salford, Harlequins Crusaders all in the opening half a dozen games. This season much harder.
Normally I would have backed us to win at Salford, but new ground syndrome, it is going to be tough, and to be honest betting men would be wise to back Salford with a 2 point start.
We dont have many key players, but if we were to lose either Rangi or Danny for a while, we would struggle big time.
Sorry to be pessimistic but that is how I feel.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:31 pm  

Scabbycat wrote:

With the limited signings that we have made thios season, I think to ger into the top 8 would be a great achievement.
I think we are light in the forwards, no real big players to put the wind up the opposition, we are also weak in the threequarters. I hope I am wrong, but if we get off to a bad start, I think it will be difficult to recover. last season the fixtures were very kind to us. Wakefield, Salford, Harlequins Crusaders all in the opening half a dozen games. This season much harder.
Normally I would have backed us to win at Salford, but new ground syndrome, it is going to be tough, and to be honest betting men would be wise to back Salford with a 2 point start.
We dont have many key players, but if we were to lose either Rangi or Danny for a while, we would struggle big time.
Sorry to be pessimistic but that is how I feel.

Whilst we haven't made big name signings,apart from widders that we will miss? isa only played a handful of games, eden the same, aspinwall was decent but missed a large amount of the season, fozzard was only good in short spells and once again missed alot of the season through injury. matherrs was a liability for me, he also missed a fair few games and fb is one position we arent short in. The off feild changes we have put into place should lead to less injuries and shorter recovery times, so we shouldnt be hit as hard by injuries (and the number of injuries that put paid to our season was very unlucky and is unlikely to be repeated anyway). The youngster that played last year (arundel, holmes, thompson, walker, massey, milner, clark, davies) will all be much better players this year with that extra experiance and most of them will be pushing for a place in the 17.

I would love a few a few 100k extra to spend as i think we could really compete with the big boys if we did, but apart from losing widders i dont see how we are weaker this year and in some ways we will be stronger.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:37 pm  

not at all,got the makings of a very good team. a fully fit team can cause alot of damage to other teams and would get some scalps along the way

hoping we don't suffer x amount of injuries again so we should be making certain our place in top 8

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:51 pm  

I think depth is the key issue. We have the capabilities to make the top eight but so do other sides. If we finished 9th I wouldn't be disappointed because it's going to be very close this season.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:06 am  

Top 8 is optimistic. I would be highly satisfied with another 9th (even 10th) providing the youngsters have got more experience and Goldy/Razza sign off to free up megabucks for 2013 which should be the acid test season.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:13 am  

smoking monkey wrote:

Top 8 is optimistic. I would be highly satisfied with another 9th (even 10th) providing the youngsters have got more experience and Goldy/Razza sign off to free up megabucks for 2013 which should be the acid test season.

Agree with that all the way. This season is a bit of an 'as you were' season and, depending on injuries, we could be anywhere from 7th to 11th. Off field matters concern me more this year. It will be next season, once Basil has fully assessed the squad and got some cash for recruitment, where we should be looking for a higher finish and a dig at the playoffs.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:48 am  

If we can keep our forwards fit and start the season like we did last year, i will be looking to finish in the top 8.
It all depends on injuries, we must get some luck this season with them, we've had our fair share of bad luck.

COYF

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:52 am  

If we are not targetting a 6-8 finish then I will be disappointed, thats the thing with targets they are supposed to be specific, achievable, realistic but challenging enough to make you strive.

I can and have conceived of a situation mid-season where we, like last year, have put ourselves in a position to bein the play-offs.
Last season, we lost 2 heartbreakers very close together, Saint's away, in which we lost Huby for the season and had already lost Emmitt, secondly the CC semi.
I strongly believe if we had converted one of those, then we would have finished 7th..... But it was not to be.

So, I would encourage everyone to go in to the season with hope and expectation, with the squad and the backroom staff having the support they deserve - after all none of them have done anything wrong this season and start on a high and keep that high going for as long as we can.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:48 pm  

CAS will take some big scalps this season, Basil is no mug and we have a good squad. There are also some more players to come in I feel so stop worrying about the squad it will be fine. We should be pushing for 6th this year without a doubt.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:00 pm  

It's a possibility.