Our defence seemed pretty good in the final. Tends to suggest that it is the commitment of individuals that is letting the team collectively doesn't it? Players win games, coaches lose them and all that...

Me neither. Absolutely no reason, as of now, why we cannot win SL next year.

[iShudders[/i



Agree with you 100%.

How about for starters, that we finished tenth in the league, our lowest finishing position in over a decade.

there really cant be any excuses next year. best squad . best coach. and best supporters.. cmon the wire.

Am a Manchester city so i dont get drawn in to all the hype,surronding what will happen next year.I have seen all the time at City until recently

You haven't got the best squad, sorry to disappoint you.

oh yes we have.

You don't and I think most of you know it. You are capable of competing definitely but you don't have the best squad.

Where did Huddersfield finish last year ?



If you work hard enough, are coached well enough and want it enough, anything is possible.



I believe with our coach, and the group of players which we have, that has been added to, we can easily emulate what Huddersfield have done.

Consistency, out of our last 10 league games or so i think we lost about 6 of those games. It wasn`t all down to having one eye on the challenge cup as we have been that way for years, Tony Smith worked a minor miracle in getting us to wembley and lifting the challenge cup, i think he will need more than 1 half years to turn us into a consistent force.



Their will be players in the squad who are under contract where he may feel that they are not upto the job and he can do better, unless those players want a move his hands are tied to an extent.



To finish high up the league you need to be consistent over a season and consistency is one of our weaknesses, to win the challenge cup its different as you just need to be the best team on the day and to have the better one off game tactics and to handle the occasion best.



The 3 new players will need time to settle in to a new system and to get to know their team mates better, i`d be looking at around 5th or 4th next year and that will be a big improvement on recent times. I doubt the Bulls will be worse than this year, Hull if they change their coach can be a force again and it will be interesting to see who Wigan bring in if Noble leaves as they have to turn the corner at some point.



Huddersfield should build on what they have done this year and likewise Hull KR, getting into the top 4 will be tough next year which is why 5th or 4th would be a big step forward for us in 2010 given the opposition will strengthen as well.



The Challenge cup is spread out over a period of time with a big break in between the semis and the final, i just have a feeling that we are not quite upto putting in the consistent big performances in a short space of time which is what the grand final play-offs require, we can obviously raise our game but ive not seen us raise it on a consistent basis in a short space of time at the level that would be required to win a grand final.

So why hasn't it took Nathan Brown three years Rob? How has he fixed an inconsistent side, who finished 10th and you could argue have a less talented squad than ours, why were they fixable in 12 mths, and we aren't ?



I'm sorry, I'm not getting this.



Surely the beauty of sport, and RL is one of the best for this, that each season is a new start and you can consign the history as exactly that. I say RL is one of the best because in some sports, ie Football, the gulf is so big, clubs each have different agendas & ambitions and you get leagues within leagues. In our comp', you've proobably got say, 8 or 9 of the 14 who believe they have some sort of crack at winning it.



Surely that's all Brown has done, told the squad to forget the past. Work hard, stick together, work for each other, obviously some technical stuff, and they've kicked on. We've a fantastic opportunity to do the same, and Smith can even point to a shiny trophy to say to the players, work hard enough, stick together, you get rewards, see exhibit (a).