Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:53 pm  

mdean wrote:

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.

didnt we lose emmitt in the rearranged game against wigan in july???

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 5:07 pm  

the machine 87 wrote:

didnt we lose emmitt in the rearranged game against wigan in july???

Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn - Chopper Read. You are probably right, memory detail is not my strong suit - I stand by those 2 games tho.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:43 pm  

not dissagreeing with you i just remember him getting injured at wigan when we were nearly asking fans to play to squad was that battered with injuries

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:12 pm  

the machine 87 wrote:

didnt we lose emmitt in the rearranged game against wigan in july???

We did indeed, in almost the last tackle of the game! But by that point we had lost Huby and Walker for the season and with Fozzard & Jackson playing only sporadically due to niggling injuries it left us extremely light in the front row. This is undoubtedly the reason why we faded away in the last third of the season and missed out on a play off spot.

We look certain to be without Huby & Millington for at least the first month of the season and Jackson is a doubt, but once they come back if we can keep most of our props playing for the remainder of the season then the pack should look a world away from that which lined up in the last third of last season and in the friendlies so far this.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:18 pm  

if massey impresses in next month i can see him keeping jackson out of the team,would be a shame as i like both and both offer different things(such a cliche but true)

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:33 pm  

I've never been a fan of Massey - he just seems to lack the basic size for a front row - but he did stand up to be counted in the last few games of last season so I'm prepared to be won over.

If everyone was fully match fit then I'd like to think the 4 props used each week would be Huby, Millington, Emmitt & Walker. If we wanted a really big pack we could play Emmitt or Walker in the 2nd row and add Jackson or Massey as a prop.

With those 4 as the cornerstones of the pack along with Milner, Clark & Ferres plus a selection from Holmes/Hudson/Jones/Mitchell/Thompson that pack should be able to give anyone a run for their money.

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:05 pm  

agreed would have ferres as my 13 and holmesy and jones/mitchell/snitchy as my 11 and 12 then by end of season john davies a permanent fixture in the 17,not everyone will agree with those

Re: Is top 8 a reality or a pipedream : Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:46 pm  

How many props do you think we need, we have

Emmit, Millington, Jackson, Walker, Nash, Huby, Davies, Massey

Think that will do us or is 8 not enough