I am beginning to think that, should Skolars, Cov and Newcastle develop well, SL pulling up the drawbridge could be one of the best outcomes.

They'd be stuck in the infamous M62 Corridor whilst the lower leagues still have French and Capital representation but also wider GB and Toronto. With the Ch getting this tight it could easily be the better proposition in the coming decade... if the RFL pull their fingers out, stop kissing Leneghan's 4rse....

Oh for the day Leeds apply to join the National League and resign from the M62 Super League

To be honest I would never expect top 5.

I think we'll slot into the middle quite well as, to be fair, there's little difference between the top end of champ 1 and the bottom end of the championship. I'd be pleasantly surprised to be in the top five, come next October and quite shocked if we were in the bottom 5. The difference in the divisions is nothing like moving from the championship to SL. Let's see what our squad is like before the season starts.

That did occur to me too. Newcastle are my favourites to come up next year. Coventry are a few years behind them but making all the right moves. The Championship could very quickly be the league with the biggest geographical coverage. That ought to be attractive to sponsors.

I agree with others. I think we'll comfortably be in that middle table, challenging for the play-offs. We'll be no where near relegation. Even last year, we'd have finished 9th in the table if it wasn't for the 12 point deduction. That was with no players with 2 weeks until the start of the season, no pre-season and having to watch Oscar Thomas and Illiess Macani "did deep" If that team can finish 9th in terms of just points earned, then the one we'll have for next year, with a full pre-season, a coach who knows the league, will be a different animal. I do think the playoffs will be out of reach as the championship will be a fantastic league next year, but i think we can definitely have a crack.

It's hard to work out with no finished squads who will finish where.

Toronto i think will walk it, especially if Rowley goes and Mcdermott comes in.

Toulouse - Improved every year and i expect them to be a force again next year.

Widnes - Interested to see how they'll go. Parachute payment but lets be honest, they've been a championship team getting battered in SL last 2 seasons. They won one game throughout the middle 8, a chief exec who milks RL but gives nothing in return (Steve Ferres anyone) a club disconnected with it's fans. Although it's very early days, apart from Liam Hood, none of the signings/re-signings are anything special. They are signing some of their excellent kids up, but as we know, you don't get protected in the championship like in SL. Have to see how the shape up come the new season, but right now, it doesn't look promising.

Halifax - Consistently punch above their wait. Consistent team and will probably finish in the top 5.

Fev - 3 impressive signings in the PNG lads, plus Brad Day and James Harrison. However they have lost a lot of players due to not making top 5. Whether they have the strength in depth for the whole season. I think they are continuing with the unpopular partnership with Leeds. Good when they get the players, but when they don't, they look a little short. Still expect them to make the 5 though.

Leigh - Best case scenario IMO is even surviving admin, that will still leave them incredibly weak in terms of getting a team together. Think it will be a fight for survival for them next year.

Sheffield - Interesting one, been fighting at the bottom of the league for last couple of seasons, but they seem to be signing the top PT players who brought them so much success in the championship. One to watch IMO.

York Like us, probably mid-table but the ability to challenge for the top 5. A club on the up, fantastic young coach, new stadium on the way. Again, like us they'll need to recruit, they've lost arguably their best player Joe Batchelor, though i still expect him to play for them a bit throughout the year/

Dewsbury/Batley - know what you get, tough to beat, but not consistent enough to challenge for the play-offs.

Barrow/Rochdale/Swinton - Fighting it for relegation.

As i said, thats just based on right now, a lot will inevitably change before the new season.

Comfortably a couple of wins or losses either side of halfway a reasonable ambition.

Top 5 a bonus.

I think we have a strong starting 17. I think even this squad we have now would have comfortably avoided relegation from this season's Championship division.

McNally, Hytchcox, Gibson, Webster, Ryan. Toronto aside, That's as good as any backline in the championship this season for mine

First choice pack not too shabby either.

I'd be looking to do over the next two years exactly what Toulouse have done over the past two years.
Year 1 solid higher end of mid table and giving the top few teams a game.
Year 2 being extremely competitive.
I think we can be drawing on a bigger talent pool than they have too.

And I actually like the new top 5 system. Was always the best playoff format imo.

I agree with Bulliac. The top of league1 and the bottom of the championship are not much different. We were relegated due to the points dediction, having no players and no coach or any pre - season. The squad we've had this year is ,imo, superior and with the new signings should be competitive next year.
Kear was on radio a few weeks ago saying if we were promoted he'd be aiming for a top 4 finish next year. Realisticly , that may be a best case scenario but it shows his intent.
The main challenge i think we'll have next year is that we'll still be seen as a scalp and if we are below our best, as we have been at times this season, then we won't get away with like we have on a few occasions this year.

a middle to upper part of the table would be fine by me, top 5 the year after

TBH, with the right signings to bolster the squad as it stands - a few of the loan lads joining on perm deals, some of the OOC guys getting extensions and a couple of old heads to help give us some leadership on the pitch, I don't see the play-offs as being beyond us. Bouncing straight up to SL is, IMO a step too far, but a lot of the clubs in the championship are spinning their wheels as far as on field performances go. If you look at the championship table - outside you can pretty much predict the end of season table to within 2 places for every team.

That isn't meant as an arrogant "ooh Bradford are so good we're going to walk the league", it's based off the fact that I would expect us to improve our crowds in 2019 which have been record breaking for League 1 and we should see an improvement there as well as a number of additional season tickets sold for 2019 over the number sold for 2018 (i know I've bought mine for next year when I didn't buy one this year) which should see the budget for playing staff be improved which should allow Kear the room he needs to bring improved players for the squad.

The majority of the other Championship clubs don't have that luxury and most have a narrow budget to play with - which is why you'll never really see a great deal of change in the table as they haven't the room to bulk out their squad and so tend to be reliant on the players they got or the gamble of players they can bring in on loan/DR and all the inherent problems that can cause when their parent club pulls those players back.

It's a top 5 play-off system for a spot in SL in 2020 and going by the last 4 years 30 points should be enough to grab 5th place. That's 15 wins, which I think Bradford under John Kear are capable of delivering. I mean, without the deduction, we got 12 points and we didn't even have a side the last time we were in this division.

IMO we hit a large turning point in those last two games of the season and we would have given any Championship side a very good game.On the back of that I can see improvement, with new signings and our youngsters getting better and better as time goes on,in other words I can see us challenging strongly for the top 5.Aim high,we have the talent right there.