Fixtures due to be released on Thursday - any preferred openers? Strong rumours on Humberside that there will be a Hull derby in Week 1. Might this mean that Wigan v Saints is up first? I personally would prefer Wigan v Leigh up first with Saints left until Good Friday.

Leigh or Wire at home hopefully. If they play those fixtures mid season, you might get 13,000/14,000 or so if things weren’t going great for either club. Play one of those on opening night and you’re likely to get up towards 20,000.

It makes sense to me, so on RFL logic, we’ll probably get Cas.

That was my thinking. Saints should sell out mid year anyway. Probably makes sense for the Hull derby to be up first while there is still a bit of optimism in the air for Hull FC.

Plus its been three years since we had a home fixture so we're owed one.

We have had Hull KR away for the first game the last 2 years running, so would definitely like something different. A big home tie like this would be great, especially if we can put a good performance in.

Latics are away on opening weekend, so no issues with that. Talk that the WCC will be the following weekend, so if they gave us a good opening fixture like that, we could be looking at crowds of say 20,000 and 25,000 on consecutive weekends. That would be a fantastic way to start the season.

If they use the same fixture formulae as last year we would have Leigh as one of our home loop fixtures so that would be a great season opener.

I just hope that London away is on a Saturday afternoon. I miss the London weekenders!

An article by Matthew Shaw suggests we may be playing Catalans on the opening day of the season. Why have an atmosphere when you can have an empty North Stand! I say that, I'm presuming he means at home but then I wouldn't put it past the RFL to send a team over to France the week before representing the country in the World Club Challenge.

It does sound a bit like he's going off what has been done previously, rather than him hearing it's definitely Catalans, so hopefully he's wrong.

Matt Shaw's usually very good but he's wrong in saying that a GF repeat is usually round one. It was in 2022 but not in 2023, 2021, 2020 or 2019.

Edit - actually Saints did play Salford in the opener in 2020 so two out of the last five years.

Fingers crossed he’s wrong here then. It seems an open goal giving Wigan an attractive home fixture against a local rival. Get Leeds at home as well and add in a Hull Derby and you’re starting with a bang.

Wigan vs Leigh, Champions vs Cup Winners, it makes sense.

Which is why the RFL probably won't do it.

Not a regular fixture, but I'd absolutely love to see a possible Vs probables game in preseason. Hold it at Robin Park/DW and get a family type day organised.

There's some interesting sides that you could pick i.e Thompson at 13 Vs Ellis at 13. Leeming Vs O'Neil. Faz and Walters Vs Nesmeba and Isa. Or you could mix it up with Farrimond and French Vs Hampshire and Smith etc. There are literally loads you can pair up/off against eachother.