Of course. But that's not what was being said.

I see this almost like a Preseason to the next Super League.
I'm enjoying the wins and enjoying the bi crowds but this is only the first step for me.

Neither team made it difficult for us, only Fev have done that so far.

After nearly 4 years of being the competitions whipping boys and getting scores put on us frequently, I don't get this attitude? I'd much prefer us to go through this division putting 30/40 on everyone and really show we're earning our promotion on the field, even if it's decided off it.

fwiw, York were heavily busted and couldn't see any other outcome than this, got to keep this attitude right as that's the only way clubs will compete with us this year. Other than maybe Fev

I can't see Fev competing with us on a proper pitch. Toulouse away in the heat could be tough, and I can't see Bradford being as bad next team. Other than that I think there's probably only Sheffield who look anything like decent. The standard of the whole league has dropped recently.

I said in places e.g the start of the second halves in particular.

What about Widnes?

I don't buy into the idea that the standard of the whole league has dropped. Fev still have on paper as strong a squad as they had last season imo - 1 to 17 anyway. Toulouse are apparently fulltime? So don't see why they wouldn't be as strong this season. Halifax have signed Widdop and Eden who are two super league players and one that has played NRL rugby and seemingly don't have a squad that are as weak as last season? Doncaster have a lot of SL experienced players. York have injuries which you can't help but have signed Dagger and Myler... If anything surely the standard has slightly risen. Bradford by all accounts have a stronger squad and higher spend than last season? Widnes are being dark horses and Sheffield are playing well with some experienced ex-SL players too? Is it really as weak as being made out? Seems more like the clubs at the bottom and middle have moved up a notch rather than the league being "weaker".

I'm regarding this season as something of a "novelty", or a term of respite from the horrors of the last few seasons. It's great to have so many more local derbies which has renewed my appetite to attend more away matches, and watch clubs that we haven't seen down at BV for almost thirty years. I'm not exactly a fan of witnessing 100-0 drubbings every week, but I'll certainly welcome a few more 50-6 scorelines. All this based on the understanding that we can accrue the necessary ratings points for next year, of course.

Mylers retired from RL and is DOR at Hull believe it or not.

Reading around the forums etc, the problem with several teams has been injuries and although some teams may have signed the odd ex SL player, they're struggling to put decent sides out each week because they have no depth.

Looking at their squad I just don't see it. Maybe if they're still up there after 15 or so games I'll change my mind but I'm not convinced.

Compare it to 5/6 years ago you'll see what I mean. Players can have as much SL experience as they want, if they were good enough they'd still be playing there now.

It wasn't even difficult in places.

How much of the Championship have you seen over the last 5 years?

Fev were a strong team in 2022 and 2023 but you can't lose 18-20 players from your squad and expect to reach the same level on half the budget as is the case this year. In particular, Fev's pack last year steamrollered just about every other team barring a couple of games, but Fev have been rolled up the middle twice this year by Bradford, that just hasn't happened in the last 5 years.

Toulouse actually weren't that good last year especially when they had some injuries, and some of their better players are now another year older (eg Hansen is 38, Peyroux is 35) and they lost their best half back Josh Ralph. They won't be as bad as their current position suggests (they didn't have a pre-season remember) but they are nothing like the team of 2021, which was really good (Casty, Garbutt, Sangare, a younger Harrison and Peyroux in the pack, and Ford and Kheirallah pulling the strings).

Bradford definitely look a bit better than last year and have made a couple of good signings, we'll have to see if they can keep progressing or whether they regress to the mean. They don't have the look of a 2021 Toulouse, a 2022 Leigh/Fev, or a 2023 Fev though.

Sheffield and Widnes have made good starts but when you look at their teams they really don't look a lot stronger than in previous years so it will be interesting to see if they can keep flying high. Widnes lost to Swinton and Batley in two of the cup competitions and Sheffield have been pushed all the way twice by Doncaster, who have plenty of players who are a fair bit past their sell-by date and are likely to be in the bottom four.

Halifax have been a bit flakey for a few years now and just don't have much size or bite in their pack. They'll produce the odd good game but plenty of disappointing ones as has been the case in recent years. York seem to make some big-name signings every year without getting any better though they have had particularly bad luck with injuries.

Barring Wakefield, there isn't an obvious top-2 Championship team in the division - obviously one will emerge by default (probably Bradford, though that could change, maybe Fev will progress as the year goes on), but the quality teams are lacking this year.

I think that's a very good point. When Fev played Bradford both teams played 4 DR/loan players, and I don't think either team will do that when they have their full complement of players available.

Most Championship teams seem to be running with squads of about 25/26 players, because that's all they can afford, so injuries and suspensions can leave them desperately short - for instance Fev had 8 injuries and 2 suspensions for the Bradford game.The top Championship clubs were getting around £800k central funding a few years ago and now they're reportedly getting about £80k, so it's not hard to see why they are struggling.

Do not buy into fans wanting closer games.We are doing what any team that is hoping to get back to S L should do, prove we are too strong for the Championship and we are while.building a team for the S L. The pack is looking like it is well on the way to be a S L pack but think there is still a job to do to replace Gale and Hood as the young cover we got do not look up to S L standard .One more problem is lack of pace in the centres ,when Pratt is out we struggle for pace .Better to be sorting these problems out in the Championship than do it in S L. Last season we went down that road and failed big time