Here we are 20 days to the Big Kick-off and every supporter of every team in the National League expecting improvements on last year's efforts.

The fact that nearly all the Super League teams have given up their Alliance teams, means there has been a glut of players available for signing and it remains to be seen just who has made the most of the situation.

All the amateur tipsters, and the so-called professionals, are giving their opinions on just who will finish where, so I thought I would give you the benefit of my personal opinion. Like all good announcers of competition results, I will give my results in reverse order.

At the bottom of the pile I have to go for Hunslet. It's sad that only three short years ago they were Grand Final winners but with no cash and little support they have to rely on signing local amateurs and I cannot see them anywhere else but 19th.

Just above them I place Chorley. They have signed Timmy Street and three or four others and although I think they will test quite a number of sides I cannot see them getting higher than 18th.

In 17th place I go for Gateshead who have signed three Dewsbury players - Robin Jowitt, David Mycoe and Ian Hughes plus Craig Moore from York and some of their own academy players. I think the ex-Dewsbury lads will bring them some experience to the side but 17th is as high as I can see for them.

The 16th and 15th positions are between either York or Keighley. York have experience in Carl Hall, Peter Edwards and Alan Pallister but will that be enough to raise them higher. They also have a new coach in Leo Epifania, who I'm sure will breath new life into them. Keighley's money problems have been well documented and they have lost a number of players, notably one Martin Wood, but Steve Deakin is an astute coach and he has signed a young player, Danny Fearon from Huddersfield who has been getting good raps from Giants fans, and also another promising youngster in Matt Firth from Halifax. With the experience of Jason Ramshaw, I think Keighley will just finish above York, so it's York in 16th and Keighley in 15th.

Last season Barrow finished in 14th place and, I'm sorry to say, I cannot see them finishing any higher this term. They have several good players and in new coach, Cameron Bell, they could surprise one or two teams. However, they have not satisfactorily replaced the players that they have lost (Brett McDermott, Ade Gardner, Matt Gardner, Paul Gardner, Darren Wilson, Stewart Rhodes) and I don't believe they will have the strength in depth for what will be a long old season.

Unlucky for some, 13th, I go for Batley. They have a new coach in Paul Storey and they also have a good half-back pairing of Dean Lawford and Glen Tomlinson. They have also made one or two useful signings, including prop-forward Mark Cox - no, not the one from down the road, this one is ex-Leeds alliance. I think these players will need time to gel and get to grips with the National League, but they could quite easily make my prediction look rather silly. We shall see!!

I go for Town's first match opponents, Sheffield, to finish in 12th. They have signed two of last years Hunslet team (Guy Adams & George Raynor), Matt Foster (Keighley), Craig Brown (Bradford alliance), Darren Callaghan (Gateshead) and they have Wayne Freeman returning to the club. They have, of course, lost one Ricky Wright to Town, but with Richard Goddard in their side they can cause problems anywhere.

Dewsbury have a new Chief Executive, John Harbin, (ex-Wakefield coach) and a new coach in Andy Fisher. They have also signed Frank Watene (Wakefield), Richard Slater (HKR) and Keith Brooke (Wakefield) plus some good local amateurs, including a good young centre from the Leeds area. Off the field they still have irritating money problems that caused them to lose many of their top players at the end of last season. This together with the further loss of Barry Eaton, makes me think that they will finish outside the top nine play-off places, in 11th place.

Although Doncaster Dragons have signed one or two Super League players - Martin Moana (Halifax), Jason Lee (Halifax) and Marvin Golden (London) - I cannot see them in the play-offs at the end of the season and I place them 10th.

So, now we get down to the nitty-gritty. I think Swinton will have a good season this year. Tony Humphries has replaced Mike Gregory as coach and they have made some useful signings, namely Craig Dean (free agent, ex-Leigh & Halifax), Andy Leathem (Leigh), Steve Gee (Widnes) Adam Hughes (Widnes), Craig Winfield (Leigh), John Whalley and Karl Fitzpatrick (Warrington), Jason Roach (ex-Haven) and they are hoping to sign any day now Phil Coussons. If they can knit this lot together with the best they had last season, I think they could surprise quite a few people and I place them in 9th place.

Hull K R get my vote for 8th place. I know how well they did at the end of last season in the play-offs but they raised their game for those matches. Prior to that they had muddled along and lost matches that teams with Grand Final pretensions shouldn't even dream of losing. Their only signing of any note, that I know of, is Lynton Stott from us.

In 7th place I go for Whitehaven. Unlike many Town fans, I have the greatest respect for our neighbours, simply because they are West Cumbrian's like us, and there are enough people, outside of West Cumbria, ready to knock us without us knocking each other. I believe that Paul Cullen has done an excellent job with the players at his disposal and I expect them to improve further this season. Their only signing of any note is Chris McKinney (Widnes) and he will be a more than useful recruit for them. However, over what is sure to be a long hard season, December to September, I'm not sure they have the strength in depth to finish any higher than 7th.

I have struggled to make my mind up regarding 4th, 5th and 6th places, between Featherstone, Oldham and Town. I have finally gone for Town 4th, Oldham 5th and Featherstone 6th. I would have had Feath in 4th until they lost coach Peter Roe to Wakefield. They have signed Nathan Graham (Dewsbury), Ian Tonks (Castleford), Jim Carlton (Gateshead) and Andy Heptinstall (Batley) to strengthen their squad but at the time of writing Jamie Rooney, Jamie Stokes, Neil Lowe and Stuart Dickens have still not re-signed. Could they be on their way to Wakefield? Who knows?

Oldham were not a good team last year but they got results by good teamwork and playing for each other. They have added Simon Knox and Tommy Hodgkinson to their squad from Widnes but they have lost their top goalkicker Pat Rich, Ian Sinfield and Chris Farrell. They have also run into problems over rental of Boundary Park and are at present seemingly homeless. The soccer club are asking for £12,500 rent per game this year compared to £2,500 per game last year. So I think Mike Ford will have to work a miracle to get them any higher than 5th place this season.

So that leaves Town in 4th place. There will be many around the National League teams reading this and calling me bonkers, but if Town play to their potential and play with a consistency that was lacking last season, they can beat anyone in this league. New signings Martin Wood, Brett McDermott, Ricky Wright, Stuart Rhodes, Gary Ruddy, possibly Alan Bone, will all add strength to an all ready strong squad. I cannot see another pack bossing ours with Hitro Okesene, Luke Savelio, Ricky Wright, Matt Tunstall, Stuart Rhodes, Jamie Beaumont, Anthony Samuels, Gary Charlton, Stuart Hoyles, Carl Sice and Owen Williamson. With Tane Manehera and Martin Wood at half-backs, Graeme Lewthwaite on the wing I think I will be very disappointed if Town don't finish at least 4th.

In 3rd place I am going for Leigh. At the tail end of last year they started to weaken. Whether this was because they had already got the league won or not, I don't know, but they were beaten twice in the play-offs and I can't see other teams being as intimidated by them this year. They have signed Jonathon Roper and Paul Rowley and at the time of writing were trying to sign Vila Matautia. Of the three Rowley may add strength to the squad, but the other two spend more time not playing than playing, one from injuries and the other from suspensions.

Runners-up will be Huddersfield. They have maintained several players on full-time contracts and I'm sure Tony Smith will have them fired up from the word go. They have lost Brendan Costin to Bradford and at present Stanley Gene has not re-signed, but they still have the strength in depth to go close for top spot.

My Champions this year are Rochdale Hornets. They showed at the end of last season what a good team they were and since then Martin Hall has added Richard Agar and Matt Long (from Widnes), Damian Ball (Dewsbury), Ian Sinfield (Oldham), & Paul Smith (Swinton) to his squad and I believe that they will be hard to beat this season.

So there you have it. You read it here first. What's that, you don't agree? Well tell me about it on the messageboard, I'm waiting to hear your thoughts.

You may not agree with my comments. Let me know via the Town.Net message board.
Keith Tomlinson