After the friendlies I was worried, and after Wakefield beat us I was pretty much resigned to the middle 8s. After Oldham turned us over in the cup, thoughts of the million pound game felt positively aspirational.
Now I see the two mini-seasons to come as potential get out of jail free cards. Avoiding the middle 8s will be tough. Widnes are struggling, but have the extra points on the board. Hudds looked good at the weekend and have a decent run of fixtures coming up. But it is only 8 games, and a couple of good results, with the confidence they'd bring and you never know. Our squad is still small and underpowered, but (tentatively, and acknowledging that a few are playing busted) we can strike through injury ravaged. A slim chance, but a chance.
Then, failing that, the middle 8s. I think, because we won all 7 games in it last year, people remember it as easy. A few of those games were close though, and there's not much chance to recover if you slip. It'll be a clean slate at least.
We could really do with a new signing or two before then.
