XIII Oceans

It’s the first full weekend of Super League and I thought I would take time to preview the forthcoming season, complete with my own predictions and comments. Feel free to comment if you so wish.

Bradford Bulls
Some very interesting acquisitions for the Bulls with six players who strengthen a side that appears to have been on the decline in the past two seasons. They flopped dramatically in the playoffs when in complete control of their game against Wigoon and their fans will be hoping that coach Steve McNamara has completed some form of continuing professional development as a result of that. There’ll be hopes that some of the younger forwards maintain their progress, namely Sam Burgess and Jamie Langley with the latter in particular becoming an increasingly greater influence of positive results over the last twelve months. Semi Tadulala has proven himself to be an effective winger at this level whilst Nero and Sykes add impressive depth to a side that already poses significant threat down the centre lanes. As long as they’re still in business they’ll be in the playoff mix.
Key player: Ben Jeffries - some speed in the middle of the park for the Bulls for the first time in years.
Prediction: 4th

Castleford Tigers
Performed surprisingly well the last time they were at the show, finishing bottom despite rattling up enough points to avoid the drop in previous seasons. They’re back up again with several players having been in this position before, adding Korkidas and West Tigers Tom Haberecht, whoever he is, so they may have more upfront than before. Questions will start to be asked though if Matterson has failed to instill the defensive quality that was lacking on too many occasions last time out and with defences improving even further last year, it’s another nervy season for the small town in Wakefield.
Key player: Brent Sherwin - should be able to generate enough good pressure and field position for Cas to compensate for their lack of raw power.
Prediction: 12th

Catalans Dragons
No Stacey Jones means no return to the cup final for Catalans, however improvement should be the order of the day as the local products further acclimatise themselves with professional rugby league. Dane Carlaw has arrived to add extra muscle and if he can reproduce some semblance of the form that he has done in the past then the Dragons will have a back row that will compare well with the best in the league. Last year these guys beat up on several more heavily fancied packs so if rumoured-to-be-Saints-bound Mick Potter can add toughness in defence they might just surprise even more than they did last year.
Key player: Casey McGuire - can he move his side around the pitch even half as well as Jones did?
Prediction: 10th

Harlequins RL
If ever anybody is under pressure before the season starts fully, it’s Brian McDermott, who has to face up to the same forward problems the Broncos have faced since Tony Currie left, that of a mediocre pack. You would think that McDermott would have sought to strengthen this part of the side significantly and to some extent the arrivals of Danny Ward and Gareth Haggerty will do that, which probably says more about the challenge that McDermott faces than it does about the potential of these perrenial under-performers. Paul Sykes is obviously a key loss, however the Crusaders have enough in the middle of the park to put some points on the board which puts the emphasis on McDermott being able to get an 10% to 20% out of his forwards again after his coaching managed that last year. Very tough season for both McDermott and Fulham.
Key player: Scott Hill - an outstanding player who might be able to steer Harlequins to mid-table obscurity.
Prediction: 11th