I agree he will play 40 minutes over the season 60 is pushing it

and then for the 25th season on the bounce won zilch,jack,diddly-squat,nothing,zero,nowt etcetera etcetera ps.don't embarras yourselves and mention trophies without wigan or leeds involved

I expect Rovers will beat FC comfortably for the simple reason Rovers are a far better side than FC.

Only the "derby factor" may affect the fact it may be a close game.

No, they're not and you can't prove they are.

Whereas you can prove they're not?

You can't prove it either way. It's a new season with new players on each team.

If based on the last year, there are more points in FC's favour than KR's ( higher league placing, won 3/4 head to heads).

However, like I said, it's a new season, slightly different teams, and hopefully new tactics, so it's too early to say.
If I had to, based on ideal starting 17's, I'd say that they're pretty close, but we all know the effects that injuries etc can have.

Are we still counting friendlys then?

Whether we do or don't the fact remains that FC won more points over the course of last year ( a season on which Zod predicted 3rd for Rovers and 9th for FC), so it's fair to challenge the statement that Rovers are a "far better" team. I think Rovers will win by some margin, but this is due in part to our current shambolic situation in the pivots.