As the 12th Super League season hoves rapidly into view, it's time to look at the runners and riders. Last season saw St Helens romp to the top of the league before cutting a swathe through the play-offs. They played with a near unbeatable combination of speed, class and a steely resolve in defence. And nothing looks like changing in 2007.

Saints had a squad in 2006 that was to die for. Packed with internationals, established Test players like Vinnie Anderson couldn't hold down a regular spot in the 17 - indeed, Anderson has subsequently moved to Warrington, such were his lack of opportunities.

Jamie Lyon's two years with the Saints will see him go down in history as one of the greatest overseas players the British game has seen. He's left now, but in his stead come the mercurial talents of Australian Test veteran Matthew Gidley - their only major signing. The rest of the squad stays largely the same, with Paul Anderson's retirement the only other loss. But that's offset by the continuing development of flame-haired Scouser James Graham into a world-class prop forward.

Former Samoan rugby union forward Maurie Fa'asavalu has also developed into a hugely-effective weapon that can lay the platform for the talented backs to exploit. And James Roby was one of the few (only?) GB players to shine in the recent Tri-Nations.

I don't expect there'll be much change in how the chasing pack end up, either. Hull had a great year last time round and the experience will have done their largely young, home-grown squad a power of good. They changed coach mid-season in 2006, so this is Peter Sharp's first pre-season with the side and he made a big difference to them when he arrived. Players like Danny Washbrook and Scott Wheeldon blossomed under the guidance of the former Manly coach and they should be the main challengers.

Leeds fell away badly towards the end of the season with a pack that just never looked big enough to compete with the big boys despite the best efforts of GB captain Jamie Peacock. The recruitment of Kylie Leuluai from Manly goes some way to redress that and in Brent Webb, they've perhaps got the best attacking full-back in the league.

Warrington have recruited well with Anderson, Paul Johnson and Adrian Morley joining them for 2007. Again, they'll be relying heavily on the talents of Lee Briers, but they certainly look to have the pack capable of giving him a base to work from. Consistency has been their achilles heel recently. A shaky start and that fragile looking confidence could get knocked, but they should be set fair for the play-offs.

Wigan were the big surprise last year, but for all the wrong reasons. Since the salary cap was introduced, they've always seemed to put far too much of that money into too few players and last season they paid a hefty price. And the lessons don't seem to have been learned. Trent Barrett and Thomas Leuluai look to be the best half-back pairing in the league if they click, but where's the depth? And the bewildering recruitment of Mick Withers when they've got a cracking young full-back in Chris Ashton smacks of panic. They'll be looking for a big year from Stuart Fielden who, by his own admission, has something to prove following a poor Tri-Nations.

Salford confounded most critics last season by gaining a play-off spot and they'll be doing very well to match that in 2007. The big thing they did last season was hire a proper stand-off, Andrew Dunemann, to relieve some of the pressure on Luke Robinson. Dunemann's gone, but in Luke Dorn they've upgraded significantly. They got off to a flier last season and unless they do so again, it looks a tough task to reach the top six again.
Bradford are in a transitional period. Out go Withers, Bai, Gene, Ferres, Johnson and Pryce. Solomona is a superb player and he and Glenn Morrison will form a tremendous second row. Shontayne Hape and Lesley Vainikolo will continue to cause defences headaches - Hape is perhaps the best centre in the league in 2007 - but taking the captaincy off Iestyn Harris in favour of Paul Deacon looks like it could cause ructions in the dressing room. That will be rookie coach Steve McNamara's biggest challenge. They look strong enough to make the six, but the glory days suddenly looks a distance away.

The rest of the teams fall into a bit of a no-man’s land. Perhaps Huddersfield, the Catalan Dragons and Harlequins could reach the play-offs, but it looks unlikely. And none of them look weak enough to finish last. The Catalans will be looking for a major improvement after the last-placed finish last year. Like Salford, they've hired a good foil for Stacey Jones in experienced stand-off Casey McGuire and all the players coming in are significant upgrades on those departing. David Ferriol and Sebastien Raguin are set to be cult heroes in a real rough, tough pack, but persistent doubts over Jones's fitness is a massive headache for the French side.

Harlequins losing Leuluai was one thing, but the decisions of Sione Faumuina to leave before he arrived and Solomon Haumono to return to boxing were shocking and so late that the club haven't had time to recruit replacements. Danny Orr has a lot to prove after a mixed few years at Wigan, while French half-back/hooker Julien Rinaldi will be hoping to avoid 'second season syndrome'.

It's all change at Huddersfield. There's been a big clear-out and a number of new faces. Wests Tigers trio Shane Elford, Jamahl Lolesi and John Skandalis are all good players, but not the sort of names that are going to make the club into a real challenger. The Cup final appearance last season was a major achievement. Consolidating on that may be their realistic target.

It looks to be a two-horse race for the wooden spoon and the dreaded drop between the two remaining sides - Wakefield and Hull KR. The odds against the team coming up staying up are always massive. You've essentially got to build a new team in a very short space of time, although Justin Morgan has done that. Michael Vella and Danny Ward give them solidity up front and the mercurial and ageless (almost literally!) Stanley Gene gives them massive experience and some strike power. But the rest looks flimsy. Marching through NL1 is one thing. Staying up in Super League is quite another.

Wakefield lost their talisman to Bradford in David Solomona. While Brett Ferres, who they got in return from the Bulls, is a very good player, Solomona is a match winner. Danny Sculthorpe is a good signing on paper, however he's already injured and that's been a problem his whole career. Rooney and Jeffries are a superb half-back combination, but it looks like being a season of struggle.

Saints get us under way against Huddersfield on February 3 before everyone else joins in a week later - thanks to some wacky scheduling for the World Club Challenge - and so begins another long, hard road to Old Trafford.

Will Saints be unstoppable this season – or are they about to lose their throne? Sportingo would love to have RL fans’ views on Super League.