season : Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:27 pm  

Well what a strange season Leeds and hudds failing to qualify for super 8's and Bradford failing to qualify for middle 8's, certainly not a season I could have ever predicted.

Onto cas now have to say an excellent 6th place finish considering the horrendous injuries we have had all season add this to the last 2 and we have finished in the top 8 for 3 consecutive seasons quite an achievement for a club who were 30 mins from admin in 2013 and had to be self sufficient since.

Steve gill (despite some of our so called fans saying he was a cheap option) has done a miraculous job since he took the position turning the club around and bringing in a coach (who just happened to be my fave coach) who has provided a squad not just a team who can compete in sl and not just make up the numbers.

2014 finished 4th and getting to the cc final with a large turnover in players and had to work with a completely new half back combo

2015 finished 5th with yet again a large turnover of players and yet again 2 new halves plus more injuries than 2014

2016 finished 6th with a horrendous injury situation all season

Next season if we are luckier with injuries will be even better with a good possibility of a top 2 finish and even now I am excited about it.

Now the difficult bit I will put the season in order from worst to best.

3rd 2014 - despite our highest finish and a cc final we didn't beat Leeds which for me puts 2014 3rd

2nd 2015 - finished 5th and beat Leeds 2/3 but lost to Leeds at home and Leeds won the treble if we had beaten Leeds once in 2014 then 2015 and 2014 would have swapped places.

1st 2016 - we may have finished lower than both previous seasons but an absolutely nightmare season injury wise really showed our strength in depth this year saw some of it last year but nowhere near as much a this year, got the double over Leeds and Leeds finishing in bottom four.

Re: season : Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:25 am  

Not the best quality of rugby league played.
It's as though been interesting with the champions on the bottom most of the season.

Here's hoping for a good finish with the top 8 and middle 8 pay off's showing some quality.

Re: season : Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:47 pm  

poppys mum wrote:

Not the best quality of rugby league played.
It's as though been interesting with the champions on the bottom most of the season.

Here's hoping for a good finish with the top 8 and middle 8 pay off's showing some quality.

I think it's due to a lack of quality coaches now in sl when tops teams played each other it used to be exciting quality rl on display due to them bringing over quality coaches from nrl most have opted to promote coaches who aren't ready and certainly not quality.

Look at Wigan, saints, hudds and Leeds if we didn't have Powell and these four coaches were available I wouldn't want any of them anywhere near out club yet in the past I would be jealous of the bigger clubs having better coaches

Re: season : Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:50 am  

I think the resilience we have shown this year has been outstanding. However, for me, out of the 3 seasons, id say this was the least enjoyable due to the number of games we have been noncompetitive and the lacklustre defence we have had. If wed of shown the same amount of desire in defence this season that we had last season and the season before....we would of won a few more games. Injuries or not. Our attack has never been a worry and probably never will be.

Again, i dont want to sound like im bagging the team, the effort to get into and maintain a top 8 place has been brilliant to watch and support and there are some players who have improved no end due to the opportunity the injuries have given them (Springer, Micky Mac).

Il rank the last 3 seasons in order from bottom to top.

3. This year for reasons stated above.
2. 2015 - A good season with good rugby.
1. 2014 - 80 mins away from LLS and CC, enjoyed every game, even when we lost.

Beating Leeds is nice but has no bearing on how good our season is/ has been to me. They are a rival club like any other in SL. And i still maintain, if we had kept the same team in 2015 that we had in 2014 (with Gale replacing Sneyd when he left) we would of gone on to win something. That 2014 team were abit special, pace, power, desire, they had it all, just a shame they couldnt get the job finished.

Re: season : Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:37 pm  

Agree about the 2014 team.
We played some of our best rugby for years that year.

I'm sure if we had kept daz Clark, a play who never seems to get an injury, I really do believe we would have kicked on from 2014. Instead we have dropped off and gone backwards.

2014 4th
2015 5th
2016 6th
Very disappointing , though this year as everyone knows injuries as desimated our squad.

We had what I called 2 outstanding games, the one at headingley.
The challenge cup game v Salford , both games we played some outstanding rugby, very close to how we played in 2014.

We desperately need to tighten our defence up, 2nd worse in the league. Cure that department for next year then hopefully we will be more comfortable and pushing for a top 4 finish.

Re: season : Sat Aug 13, 2016 2:18 am  

dodger666 wrote:

Well what a strange season Leeds and hudds failing to qualify for super 8's and Bradford failing to qualify for middle 8's, certainly not a season I could have ever predicted.

Onto cas now have to say an excellent 6th place finish considering the horrendous injuries we have had all season add this to the last 2 and we have finished in the top 8 for 3 consecutive seasons quite an achievement for a club who were 30 mins from admin in 2013 and had to be self sufficient since.

Steve gill (despite some of our so called fans saying he was a cheap option) has done a miraculous job since he took the position turning the club around and bringing in a coach (who just happened to be my fave coach) who has provided a squad not just a team who can compete in sl and not just make up the numbers.

2014 finished 4th and getting to the cc final with a large turnover in players and had to work with a completely new half back combo

2015 finished 5th with yet again a large turnover of players and yet again 2 new halves plus more injuries than 2014

2016 finished 6th with a horrendous injury situation all season

Next season if we are luckier with injuries will be even better with a good possibility of a top 2 finish and even now I am excited about it.

Now the difficult bit I will put the season in order from worst to best.

3rd 2014 - despite our highest finish and a cc final we didn't beat Leeds which for me puts 2014 3rd

2nd 2015 - finished 5th and beat Leeds 2/3 but lost to Leeds at home and Leeds won the treble if we had beaten Leeds once in 2014 then 2015 and 2014 would have swapped places.

1st 2016 - we may have finished lower than both previous seasons but an absolutely nightmare season injury wise really showed our strength in depth this year saw some of it last year but nowhere near as much a this year, got the double over Leeds and Leeds finishing in bottom four.

Thought you looked quality against us and you've got a great coach but your ambition should stretch beyond beating us! It wasn't difficult this season. Hull excepted.

Re: season : Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:42 am  

So here we are the end of the regular season and what a season it has been for us cas fans.

Top of table 10 points clear with 14 left to play for
Played 23 won 20 lost 3
Scored 769 points averaging nearly 33.5
Conceded 378 averaging nearly 16.5
A huge +391 points difference
Scored 132 tries averaging nearly 6
Topped the league for all but 1 week (if only we hadn't lost at Salford lol)
Won every home game of the regular season
Been thoroughly entertained with some fast attractive attacking rugby

Looking at all the permutations regarding us winning or losing the LLS it is harder for us to lose it from this point than it is for us to win it, we could lose all 7 super 8's games and still win the LLS. Although the LLS hasn't been won yet with 7 games left I'm confident we will finally win our first ever LLS and finally banish the demons of of that horrible season the joy of the first half of the season then the horror of the second half of the season, also a home semi could be huge considering our home form and could lead to our first ever gf appearance which would be absolutely crazy considering where we were in 2013.

What an amazing journey the last 4 years have been, the memories I have. Roberts drop goal on the hooter v saints, some sublime passing and kicking to set up
Some wonderful tries, watching players like Moors and springer charging up the field dragging 3/4 defenders with them, and of course some excellent diving finishes from Eden, solomona and hitchcox then when you add to that some awesome tackling bordering on heroic at times when really up against it, and if we do indeed win silverware that would be a perfect end to the last 4 years.

Although Winning silverware would be huge for the club as a whole it would be extra special for 2 great men, the 1st who sadly isn't here to witness the continuation of our journey although without him it is unlikely we would be in the position we are in today, and that man is of course the late, great jack Fulton, and although should we win the LLS he won't be there to watch the team lift the trophy I'm sure we will all spare a few thoughts for him during what will already be a very emotional moment for us, even now sat here thinking of those who are no longer with us brings a tear to my eyes, especially my mam, she was there in 86 waving her cas flag celebrating our challenge cup win. Both jack and my mam were tigers through and through both have a special place in my heart as I'm sure jack has with all of us. Speaking of being a tiger through and through I'm sure you'll never find a bigger tiger than the second great man, he loves his club so much he even put his mental health at risk to get us where we are now and that man is of course Steve Gill, worked his way from young scoreboard operator to CEOs, he took over at a very tough time for the club and even though some branded him a cheap option has worked miracles taking us from being close to admin in 2013 to finishing 4,5,5 and most probably 1st in the following 4 seasons and done so whilst having to run us as a self sufficient club and to do so with only 1 poor season is an amazing achievement.

We cannot talk about the last 4 years without mentioning the man who has brought in the troops, trained them and created the tactics that have got us to this point in what could be a historic Season for us, a guy who has been my fave coach for many years, had someone asked me prior to 2013 who my ideal coach was, the answer to that would have been Powell , so imagine my joy when Powell was announced in 2013 and I guess the last 4 years show why I wanted him here for so long, in 2014 and 2015 when everyone had us in a bottom 4 dogfight I was confident we would finish top 8 although we finished higher then I thought we would, another guy who has done an amazing job, coaching at a club that is used to winning is 1 thing but coaching a regular bottom 4 club and in your first 4 seasons finishing top 5 is miraculous, powell deserves silverware this season and I'm sure the boys will work hard to get him it.

Another thing I am excited about is player retention, at 1 time we could only dream about signing quality players like Zak, when we did manage to sign good players it was usually only for 1 season till a bigger club became interested then off they went, or they were nearing the end of their careers and came for 1 last payday, but as she with Zak coming n load the signing a 4 year deal, England internationals gale and Meeks both signing extensions just to name a few, then I look at some of our quality players who are nearing the end of their current contracts, Moors and jsl, 2 players who I feel would be happy to sign an extension should the club offer 1.

I'd like to say a few words about our fans, as a fan who for financial reasons cannot attend many games I would like to applaud the fan support at games both home and away.

Regular season home average 8,733 and with having the lucky draw of wakey and Leeds at home coupled with hudds and Salford away and a possible home semi should push us above 9,000 home average which would be amazing.

With an away average that must be between 1,000 and 1,500 shows how much our fans have bought into what both Gill and Powell are building here.

I Have certainly enjoyed the journey so far and considering we have majority of quality players on long contracts face the possibility of more enjoyable seasons to come.