Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 6:45 am  

Catalans had a divided season. First half they were awful. Second half they came good, very good. One should look at the more recent form, not the form over the entire season.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 6:59 am  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

Catalans had a divided season. First half they were awful. Second half they came good, very good. One should look at the more recent form, not the form over the entire season.

Correction - they came good for PART of the 2nd half of the season.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:40 am  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

Catalans had a divided season. First half they were awful. Second half they came good, very good. One should look at the more recent form, not the form over the entire season.

Can you nd us how they got on in the Super 8's ?
Played 7, won 2, lost 5, some distance from being good enough to challenge for honours.


Having said that, I'd be happy for Trinity to do the same if they had The Challenge Cup in ther trophy cabinet.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:23 am  

Full Back – Tony Gigot - Lets be honest, there's another ban on the way...

Wing – Jodie Broughton - Solid Winger, not going to win trophies on his own.
Centre – Brayden Wiliame - Overrated.
Centre – David Mead - I like Mead but not what he was made out to be.
Wing – Lewis Tierney - Nothing special.

Stand off – Sam Tomkins - Joined for a payday, quality player but
Scrum Half – Matty Smith - Past it, will spend 50% of the season injured also.

Prop – Sam Moa - Solid SL prop.
Hooker – Mickey McIlorum - A very underrated hooker IMO.
Prop – Remi Casty - Did nothing all last season apart from shout Yes Papa.
Second Row – Benjamin Jullien - Nothing special.
Second Row – Ben Garcia - Solid player.
Loose – Greg Bird - Grub but a decent player.

Interchange: Julien Bousquet, Antoni Maria, Kenny Edwards, Jason Baitieri - Probably the worst bench in the league IMO, no talent.

Reserves: Samisoni Langi, Alrix da Costa - Alrix Da Costa will soon find himself playing for a lower league French side.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:04 pm  

Its an odd one to predict, Saints set a standard last season and you can only imagine most teams will be working towards that bar in pre season. Will they cope with the loss of Barba and can Richardson produce again ? Wigan look weaker on paper but a new coach coming in can often work for the better. Lower teams naturally look better after bad seasons so you would expect them to be much tougher opposition. Im not so sure Brough is a good signing for Wakefield I feel he wont work well with Miller but time will tell. Catalans made a good signing with Tomkins but then a bad one with Matty Smith IMO and I dont see them being drastic improvers. I expect Hull to have a better season but off the pace for top 4 but have a chance of the 5th playoff spot. London I think will comfortably be relegated as I dont expect them to topple many teams on the road but will be difficult at home. Hull KR have made some good signings but a lack of a quality half will hamper there chances of moving further up the table. Salford have a good 17 but they just dont ever seem consistent enough home or away.

For me id predict this.

Saints
Wire
Cas
Wigan
Hull
Leeds
Huddersfield
Wakefield
Catalans
Hull KR
Salford
London

Other then Saints at top and London at the bottom I wouldnt be surprised to see this all be very different.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 3:22 pm  

pmarrow wrote:

Its an odd one to predict, Saints set a standard last season and you can only imagine most teams will be working towards that bar in pre season. Will they cope with the loss of Barba and can Richardson produce again ? Wigan look weaker on paper but a new coach coming in can often work for the better. Lower teams naturally look better after bad seasons so you would expect them to be much tougher opposition. Im not so sure Brough is a good signing for Wakefield I feel he wont work well with Miller but time will tell. Catalans made a good signing with Tomkins but then a bad one with Matty Smith IMO and I dont see them being drastic improvers. I expect Hull to have a better season but off the pace for top 4 but have a chance of the 5th playoff spot. London I think will comfortably be relegated as I dont expect them to topple many teams on the road but will be difficult at home. Hull KR have made some good signings but a lack of a quality half will hamper there chances of moving further up the table. Salford have a good 17 but they just dont ever seem consistent enough home or away.

For me id predict this.

Saints
Wire
Cas
Wigan
Hull
Leeds
Huddersfield
Wakefield
Catalans
Hull KR
Salford
London

Other then Saints at top and London at the bottom I wouldnt be surprised to see this all be very different.

Hull above Wakefield, Leeds and Hudds - you better get recruiting then.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 6:51 pm  

Super League is getting more competitive and it's getting harder to place teams. My only thought is that for me Saints will still lead the pack and London will finish bottom. Everyone else is in between.

The top 4 is less certain - Huddersfield, Wakefield, Leeds and Hull could be there or thereabouts and I don't know if Cas, Wire and Wigan will sustain their places. The only defining factor is depth and whoever gets injuries could see them dragged out the play-off race. I think there's lots of recruitment still to be done and changes here and there so it's hard to tell with still 2 and half months to go to the season.

Predictions probably to change but for me St Helens, Wire, Hull, Wigan, Cas, Wakefield, Leeds, Huddersfield, Catalans, Salford, Hull KR, London

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 7:27 pm  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

Catalans had a divided season. First half they were awful. Second half they came good, very good. One should look at the more recent form, not the form over the entire season.

I realise that being an Ocker means English isn't your first language, but how hard is it to find the bit where I commented on their most recent form...... here....I'll help you out

Call Me God wrote:

Catalan lost 5 from 7 in the S8's,

Is than not enough "recent form" for you? OK, let's discuss the last 7 rounds of the regular season and the 7 rounds of 8's! They total 13 points from a possible 28.....a 46% win ratio, still not good enough to reach the Play-offs.......HOW MORE RECENT DO YOU NEED?

....see buddy, your opinion is just that, whilst the statistics will always show your opinion to be flawed.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:26 pm  

vastman wrote:

Hull above Wakefield, Leeds and Hudds - you better get recruiting then.

To finish top of the pile we would have to.

Keep a fully fit 17 and we can finish above the teams you mention, although its not a given. Wouldnt say either of the teams you mention have a better squad then Hull, on par yes but not better. Be interesting to see how it pans out.

Re: Which teams will be the competition leaders in 2019? : Thu Nov 22, 2018 11:12 pm  

pmarrow wrote:

To finish top of the pile we would have to.

Keep a fully fit 17 and we can finish above the teams you mention, although its not a given. Wouldnt say either of the teams you mention have a better squad then Hull, on par yes but not better. Be interesting to see how it pans out.

Leeds’ squad still contains a lot of players that have got the job done and won a GF (and as we constantly see year upon year come GF time that experience IS IMPORTANT) added to it a few better than usual NRL recruits then we’re stronger than most think providing injuries don’t hit and Sinfield doesn’t cone out every week slagging off the players for their culture and attitude and then expect them to perform for him.