Thought it was good that the mood of the fans was that eighth is a realistic place to finish next year. Must be reassuring for the new owners to have a passionate, yet realistic, fanbase.

I would be surprised if they didn't finish higher than that with the new coach and new players

Think Thirkill was spot on, even if we do everything right that we can control the competition to finish 8th or above is massive, it means we have to get our house in order and hope someone takes their eye off the ball or has bad luck with injuries etc. Even Huddersfield who we are now expected to finish above by many now still have some quality players, Salford every year punch well above their weight and Leigh, Leeds and Catalan potentially have trophy winning sides on their day. Wigan, Rovers and St’s will be way above the rest.

Optimism doesnt suddenly catapult the team into a top 6 or 8 position.
The squad has been strengthened and experience added but is still poor quality,coupled with ageing players and a distinct lack of pace.
I think with Cartwrights coaching adding fitness and discipline we will keep out of the bottom two but all teams in S/L have been strengthened and i dont see a really weak team there at all.
Even Wakefield will surprise a few

The key thing is if we are sorting the basics out, the fitness, the discipline, the defence and then if we are losing games by a try or two because our slow centres couldn't finish the break off, then I'd say fair enough sign some top centres for 2026 and jobs a good un.

It's getting away from the 50 point thumpings that is important for the fans morale, and also not downing tools after the end of July. The Cup is more of a chance for sucess even a day out at a Semi final would feel like a dream after these last few years.