Super League XV preview.

Its that time of year again. The Super League season finally kicked off in Wrexham, the first time the season has kicked off outside of England since Paris St Germain did the honors in 1996, and I for one am looking forward to what must should be a ground breaking season in all three divisions of professional rugby league in the UK and France.

The focus off attention off the field will be on both the Crusaders RL (I'm still going to call them Celtic) and South Wales Scorpions (the scorpions bit wont be written ever again.) Both teams came under the spotlight after Celtic moved from their home in Bridgend to move to Newport, then without playing a game and in the space of a few weeks got sold off and moved up north to Wrexham to provide the football club with an extra source of income.

On the field its a case of somebody stopping Leeds making it four straight Super League titles, and becoming the most successful team to date in the Super League era. It'll be a tough ask for the remaining thirteen teams, as Leeds seem to be getting better on paper each year. They have made some enormous signings, and have a tendency to back up all the pre-season hype with some tremendous performances over the course of the season. The only domestic title eluding them is the Challenge Cup, which they haven't won since 1999 which non of the current Leeds squad.

St Helens will have every intention of avenging their previous three Grand Final defeats, and the signing of Sia Soliola will boost their chances of a fifth straight appearance at Old Trafford. But overall I feel the Leeds/Saints GF partnership will finally be broken in 2010 and its Saints that will break up the marriage. They didn't look the same team in 2009 under Mick Potter as his first year as head coach, and the old guard of Leon Pryce, Paul Wellens and Keiron Cunningham didn't look the same as they did in the three years before 2009. There wasn't the same spark or cohesion that Daniel Anderson managed to install into the side, and I think Saints' reign in the top two is coming to an end.

But who will replace them and challenge Leeds for the title? Wigan? Warrington? Hull KR? If I had five pounds, my bet for 2010 dark horse would be Catalan. They have signed some very useful talent to add to their already good side. The signing of the year would have to be Dallas Johnson. He will challenge Malcolm Alker for the most tackles in a season, as he regularly makes over forty tackles a game in the NRL and State of Origin. Throw in their other signing of former New Zealand centre Setaimata Sa and they have a side that can go one better in 2010. They're the type of side that could seriously give Warrington a run for the Challenge Cup come August.

Speaking of Warrington, they should also have high aspirations of challenging for Super League as well. The signings of fringe England players Richie Myler and Ryan Atkins shows that Warrington can attract not just older and experience talent, but they can attract and invest in the long term. Now they have achieved their goal of winning the Challenge Cup after seven years building the foundations, they can become another Leeds or Saints of 2006 two or three years from now. Looking towards the start of 2010, the added signing of David Solomona will give Warrington added bulk into their already strong looking pack of Adrian Morley, Paul Wood and Gareth Carvell. I expect them to make the top four along with Leeds, St Helens and Wigan.

Wigan have high expectations every year, and for the past five years have failed to achieve those ambitions. They are the most successful British club, and with such a tag the coaching job can be even harder than at any other club. In my opinion Brian Noble was unfairly treated last year, and his replacement, Michael Maguire, will have to be careful as to not upset the board behind the scenes. They have brought in Paul Deacon, no doubt as a master the the young apprentice called Sam Thomkins. They are always a threat and very intimidating, but they need to stop losing big matches in order for the glory to return to the cherry and white.

From Lancashire to Yorkshire, and as you cross the pennies on the M62 the first town you come to is Huddersfield. Under Nathan Brown last year they were sensational. Finished third in the regular season but just couldn't handle the pressure of a massive knock-out match. They lost the Challenge Cup final, and unexpectedly bowed out of the play offs early in week two to Catalan. This year they'll want to go one better, and they haven't recruited too badly in order to achieve that goal. Their star signing is David Fa'alogo, the former New Zealand and South Sydney player. They also welcome back Brad Drew, who carried Huddersfield to the play offs in 2007. After two years at Wakefield he has returned to see the town which gave birth to rugby league achieve more success. Except they won't make the top four having narrowly over achieved last year.

Further down the M62 you pass Bradford. Steve McNamara is standing tall after some major signings that easily could change the face of Super League. Considering they have been on the slide since Brian Noble left in 2006, they have attracted Matt Orford, Heath L'Estrange from Manly and Brett Kearney from Cronulla. L'Estrange will add a bit of aggression and bulk into the Bradford back row and is a direct replacement for Sam Burgess, while Orford in his prime was better than Paul Deacon ever will be. While I don't think you will see a better Matt Orford than when he was at Melbourne and his early career at Manly, but I do think he is more than capable of single handedly guiding McNamara's side into the top five or six.

Bradford to Wakefield is the route Terry Newton has travelled this winter, and I can't help but think it'll be business as usual for Wakefield this year. Last year they had two people to play for in Adam Watene and Leon Walker who both tragically died doing what they loved, and when I say business as usual, I mean they'll be struggling at the bottom half of the league. I do rate John Kear as a moderately successful coach, who has transformed countless clubs around with small finances. However their squad this year looks like a whos who of players past their prime and top four rejects. Only Danny Brough looks capable of shining, but he on his own can't transform Wakefield's woes this year.

Swiftly moving onto Castleford, and it'll be a similar story at Whelden Road. Terry Matterson has only brought in two players in Paul Jackson and Steve Snitch, who were average at best for Huddersfield and Wakefield respectively. Michael Shenton and Joe Westerman both need good years this year, as I though Westerman was a little too quiet for my liking and failed to get a game for England after such promise two years ago. Shenton on the other hand had a decent season, but is probably wasted in a team well below his standards.

Lingering below both those two sides will be the cockneys. Harlequins are often questioned along with Celtic as to why they are in Super League, never mind being in existence in the first place. Many people believe they bring nothing to the sport after thirty years, originating as Fulham and playing at Craven Cottage. I expect their performances to be a little below par this year yet again. They seem to have been struggling to attract any half decent players from up north, while focusing their attentions in developing players down south. While that's good for the longer term, short term their star signings for this season seem to be Ben Jones-Bishop, Oliver Wilkes and Andy Ellis. They won't improve under Brian McDermott, in fact they might be standing still if he is in charge for a few more years.

From one expansion club to another, and Crudaders/Celtic will have to do it even tougher this time round. I'd say there were a few more signings yet to come, and they have already played one game so need to get pen to paper pretty quickly. But there are promising signs. Their performance against Leeds was fairly good for an hour, while they do have promise in Michael Witt and experience in Gareth Raynor and Jamie Thackeray. It'll be interesting how they perform on and off the field, with a close eye on their attendances and marketing efforts to attract the nice folk from north Wales. If they can perform the way they did against Leeds for the rest of the season, they will give a few teams a mighty shock or two.

Salford promise progression and improvement every year, but I can't help but think they're on a hiding to nothing. While they did managed to beat more teams other than Celtic last year, they will do even better to move up a position in the league. An unlikely task in my opinion. They no longer have Richie Myler, but the progress of Stefan Ratchford should see him being touted as a future star, obviously not at Salford. They seem to be a dumping ground for fringe players in other teams to learn what Super League is like. Both Matty Smith and Steve Tyrer are on loan from St Helens and can't be far from pulling on that red vee shirt themselves. I'm fairly confident an academy side could beat their first team, and confidence is something Shaun McRae will have to be stocking up on to have any hope this season.

Last but by no means least, we have the two Hull teams. I'd like to end on a positive, so its best to start with Hull FC. Richard Agar is on his very last legs. If he can't get this side playing together then his time has to be up. However despite all the experience in Shaun Berrigan, Sean Long, Mark O'Meley and the one and only Craig Fitzgibbon, all of these players will soon be cashing in their pensions. It'll be difficult to keep these four players on the pitch at the same time without arthritis playing up on them. But in all seriousness, if Agar can pull them together and wrap the four older players in cotton wool on a weekly basis then they can make the top eight. It's fielding a consistent side every week that will be Agar's problem, and good luck to him because it's only a matter of time before he is out of the door.

Across the river Hull and we come to east Hull, twinned with Basra, Iraq. It's also the home to Hull KR who should be aiming to improve on 2009. In my opinion, they struggled to come to terms with their extra time loss to Warrington in the Challenge Cup, and lost the following five out of seven games. Other than that, it was a terrific season and one they can really bounce onwards from. They have kept all the key players that did so well for them this year in Shaun Briscoe, Michael Dobson, Ben Galea and Kris Welham. Justin Morgan is a great coach who has learnt a lot in a short space of time since joining the club from Toulouse in 2005 and would be my pick for the next England coach.

Finally here is how the league will look come September, if all is predicted well. Which it wasn't!

Leeds
Wigan
St Helens
Warrington
Catalan
Huddersfield
Hull KR
Bradford
Hull FC
Wakefield
Castleford
Harlequins
Salford
Crusaders RL