All revved up as queue builds to try and pass Rhinos on long haul to glory

The competition’s new partners, the UK’s leader in transport and distribution, apparently see their ubiquitous vehicles travel the distance around the earth 24 times a day, so they certainly know all about endurance.

It is an ethos which does not need to be forced on champions Leeds Rhinos who, as victors in five of the last seven campaigns, are themselves the embodiment of such consistent stamina.

Last season’s outlandish Grand Final success, where they rose from the unprecedented depths of fifth to succeed at Old Trafford, showed that even when they were slow coming through the gears, they eventually had the requisite accelerated finish.

Their staying power has been immense and, as they prepare for Friday’s opener against Hull KR, it would take a fool to once more write them off like so many did last summer.

However, Brian McDermott’s men are more aware than ever that the imminent challenges facing them ahead of a new season will be particularly taxing; their historic achievement is just that – history.

Minor premiers Warrington Wolves have strengthened their personnel ready to complete the task in 2012, Tony Smith smarting from the manner in which his squad failed to reach Old Trafford despite being the classiest side throughout the majority of the year.

As the coach who led Leeds to the first of those five titles, the astute Australian knows all about what is required to fashion a squad capable of navigating those tricky play-off waters and you cannot really see him failing twice.

But, Challenge Cup holders and 2010 champions Wigan Warriors, along with those perennial nearlymen St Helens, are equally determined to wrest the trophy back from Yorkshire’s grasp.

At Wigan, much will depend on how they adapt following Michael Maguire’s return to Australia, deputy Shaun Wane being handed the reins at the DW Stadium.

They have also lost some core players from their Maguire revival – Joel Tomkins, Paul Deacon, Andy Coley and Ryan Hoffman – perhaps without securing the same calibre of replacements.

Beaten Grand Finalists Saints, meanwhile, must overcome the loss of their indefatigable England prop James Graham to the NRL, especially given the rule change introduced this season which sees the number of replacements reduced from 12 to 10.

However, they have captured excellent Gold Coast forward Anthony Laffranchi and will be augmented by Mark Flanagan’s arrival from Wests Tigers.

Also, in tyro scrum-half Jonny Lomax, Saints have one of the game’s most exhilarating youngsters and they will be confident again of reaching a remarkable seventh successive Grand Final.

For all the annual talk of Super League improving, it remains to be seen whether – following the continued downturn of Bradford Bulls – anyone outside the four aforementioned clubs can consistently challenge.

Warrington seem destined to eventually break their duck but as yet, entering its 17th season, just Leeds (5), Saints (5), Bradford (4) and Wigan (2) have actually claimed the title.

In this, the Chinese year of the dragon, however, there is growing support for the French version to break that stranglehold.

Catalan Dragons made huge progress under Trent Robinson in 2011, transforming from bottom to sixth, and there is a mounting belief the inventive Australian will take them further still in the nine months ahead.

It is a sign of their increasing allure that established international Leon Pryce has become the first Englishman to make the bold move to Perpignan, and alongside Warrington’s Kiwi second-row Louis Anderson, Robinson has certainly secured two potentially crucial additions.

Will 2012 be the final season we see the incomparable Steve Menzies strutting his stuff? Probably not.

He will be 39 at the end of the year but still has the class which could turn Catalan into title pretenders.

But what of Leeds’s Yorkshire rivals and their threat? It will be the last year in Super League for Huddersfield Giants’ supremo Nathan Brown before he heads back to Australia.

So influential in transforming them into top four competitors, he has still yet to take them that final step and time is undoubtedly running out.

Giants fans may feel there has not been enough quality in their transfer activity to overcome their failings from last year but only time will tell.

It is all change in Hull where both FC and Rovers have new men in charge in Peter Gentle and Craig Sandercock, respectively.

Of the two, Hull seem better placed to make a challenge, given both the standard of their signings and with dynamic new owner Adam Pearson bringing fresh vision, but it is hard to envisage them doing it so early in Gentle’s tenure.

Bradford, meanwhile, can ill-afford another barren year and – with their future at Odsal now sorted – will be desperate to reach the play-offs for the first time in four seasons.

Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats both start new eras with the appointments of Ian Millward and Richard Agar as head coaches.

Agar, particularly, has high hopes after owner Andrew Glover backed a complete transformation of the squad he inherited from John Kear.

The Wildcats endured plenty of misery in 2011, entering administration and then spending much of the year near the foot of the table fearing for their Super League survival.

But the Crusaders’ surprise exit earned them a reprieve when it came to licences and so, with high-calibre acquisitions such as Ali Lauitiiti, Peter Fox and Dean Collis, they could impress.

With their three-year licence, Widnes Vikings make a welcome return to the elite for the first time since 2005.

Given last week’s announcement about Super League’s new partners, it now explains why Widnes’s unspectacular opener against Wakefield at the Stobart Stadium has been selected for Sky’s first broadcast on Friday evening.

But soon all eyes turn to Leeds’s bid to reclaim the World Club Challenge when they face Manly at Headingley Carnegie on February 17 while the Magic Weekend heads to another new venue – Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium – when it returns to its May slot after last year’s season-opener experiment in Cardiff.

So, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to start up those engines once more.