Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:03 pm  

Tarquin Fuego wrote:

Funny enough in the NFL the
Baltimore Ravens are a serious team with massive Super Bowl ambitions under coach Harbough.

They compete at the highest level every season and have for 15-20 years.

They didn’t lose a pre season friendly for 17 years approx and that’s 3-4 games every year.

It’s a philosophy they have !!!

We are 1 million fricking miles from that mentality

The problem is that the Baltimore Ravens seem to suffer with terrible injury problems every year and invariably choke at the business end of the season. Perhaps there's a link between that and how hard they go in pre season?

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:03 pm  

The Hollywood Frasier wrote:

He may have only got 15 mins but I thought Balmforth was really poor in contact, he was getting bounced off a fair bit and was clearly targeted by Wigan along with Pele.

I thought he was a young Richard Swain given the clamour for him to play!
(I'm only having a joke before anyone flies off the handle)

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:04 pm  

MadDogg wrote:

Brown made at least a couple of breaks and generally looked a class above his teammates with ball in hand - I noticed he looked very frustrated on a couple of occasions at the lack of running off the ball.

Signing players gets harder the lower down the league you are and we all know the hours drive from anywhere to Hull puts some domestic players off.

Even with a growing NRL to SL pay gap some decent overseas players may fancy a trophy win at Wigan or Saints or a spell in the sun at Catalan, but here?? Nah

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:06 pm  

hull2524 wrote:

Where not going to go from a bottom 3 team to top 6 overnight. It's ok saying sign him etc. But that's never gonna happen unless your a Wire team . I think we all know it's gonna be a slow process even though we would all like an instant fix to our problems. As I say let's at least give this newish team a chance.

Leigh did it. Catalan have been to more grand finals than us despite only being in SL since 2006

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:12 pm  

Cuddleclub wrote:

As plenty have said it was only a friendly.
But some very worrying signs, can’t see any improvement in 2024 I’m afraid, 8th at best and that’s a big ask. Wigan will be the bench mark again.

It was a friendly against the best team in SL but to concede 40 points at home and not score doesn't augur well.

All I want from this season is a steady improvement. In truth with the squad we have assembled I cannot see us finishing in the top 6. We have to be realistic. If we are at least competing for a play off place come the final rounds it will be progress.

For me the most important measure of progress is how many of our young home grown players get a chance to prove they are capable at excelling at this level. That's the only way we will be competing against the top teams in the next few seasons.

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:41 pm  

Steve0 wrote:

Leigh did it. Catalan have been to more grand finals than us despite only being in SL since 2006

Catalans have a bit of leg up when it comes to signing overseas players you must admit.
Leigh have done it, yes, but you have to wonder how sustainable that is going to be for them.
We've managed a couple of periods of being quite good but it's never lasted more than 2 or 3 years at a time and I suspect Leigh will follow a similar pattern tbh.

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 2:51 pm  

scarrie wrote:

Catalans have a bit of leg up when it comes to signing overseas players you must admit.
Leigh have done it, yes, but you have to wonder how sustainable that is going to be for them.
We've managed a couple of periods of being quite good but it's never lasted more than 2 or 3 years at a time and I suspect Leigh will follow a similar pattern tbh.

That is what makes me rue the opportunities we had to make the GF , with players of the calibre of Ellis, Sneyd, Mini, Tag, Watts, Manu, Fanoa, Talanoa and Kelly, they could have been the years that marked us out as a truly top team, whereupon recruitment and investment would have been easier, than that of our current situation. I agree that quality youth production is now the way we will compete again, unless I win the Euromillions, so we will all have to show patience, loyalty and a huge case of celebrating the modest highs that will happen until we are back in the mix. A win against Rovers would help some way in that, I know they aren't our benchmark but who'll remember yesterday, if that happens?

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 3:38 pm  

GrahamBray wrote:

That is what makes me rue the opportunities we had to make the GF , with players of the calibre of Ellis, Sneyd, Mini, Tag, Watts, Manu, Fanoa, Talanoa and Kelly, they could have been the years that marked us out as a truly top team, whereupon recruitment and investment would have been easier, than that of our current situation. I agree that quality youth production is now the way we will compete again, unless I win the Euromillions, so we will all have to show patience, loyalty and a huge case of celebrating the modest highs that will happen until we are back in the mix. A win against Rovers would help some way in that, I know they aren't our benchmark but who'll remember yesterday, if that happens?

2016 feels like a huge missed opportunity. Plus that year Cas made the GF then had the Hardaker fiasco, we just got pipped by Leeds in the play-off. If we'd scraped through instead I'm convinced we'd have won the GF.

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:35 pm  

GrahamBray wrote:

That is what makes me rue the opportunities we had to make the GF , with players of the calibre of Ellis, Sneyd, Mini, Tag, Watts, Manu, Fanoa, Talanoa and Kelly, they could have been the years that marked us out as a truly top team, whereupon recruitment and investment would have been easier, than that of our current situation. I agree that quality youth production is now the way we will compete again, unless I win the Euromillions, so we will all have to show patience, loyalty and a huge case of celebrating the modest highs that will happen until we are back in the mix. A win against Rovers would help some way in that, I know they aren't our benchmark but who'll remember yesterday, if that happens?

I’ll happily forget yesterday GB.

Re: Pre-season. : Mon Feb 05, 2024 4:42 pm  

scarrie wrote:

2016 feels like a huge missed opportunity. Plus that year Cas made the GF then had the Hardaker fiasco, we just got pipped by Leeds in the play-off. If we'd scraped through instead I'm convinced we'd have won the GF.

Yeah the post Wembley fall off was a a wasted chance of a Grand Final win. Had we beaten Warrington in the last round of the Super 8s instead of it being 1 Warrington 2 Wigan 3 Hull we would have finished top on points difference over Wigan and had a home play off for Old Trafford.