There are two matches in the Super League on Friday night and they both look like being excellent games as the race for the playoffs really begins to intensify.
Castleford sent down a marker on Thursday night and now St Helens, Salford, Wigan and Hull FC will all look to answer in kind. We have one match on TV on Friday and one away from the cameras. We’ll begin with the TV game.
Wigan vs Hull FC
This match has been raised in profile as it is the return to Super League of Sam Tomkins after an NRL spell and a significant knee injury. He will go straight into the side but this Hull FC team shouldn’t be underrated by any stretch.
Both sides go into the match off the back of comfortable wins in the Challenge Cup last week with Hull FC’s Super League form being very good indeed so they will fancy their chances here but they will be without the influential Frank Pritchard who has picked up a ban from the Pacific Test last week.
Ordinarily I’d fancy Hull FC to go well in this match but although they both won in the Cup last week Wigan’s match was infinitely easier in terms of physicality than Hull FCs was and with Pritchard missing and Sika Manu having travelled the globe and back not being ideal I’m not so sure about them this week.
That said I’m not sure I could back this current Wigan attack to cover more than a score. It should improve with Tomkins in the side but he might need a game or two to find his feet so that improvement might not come straight away. It just has a feel of a match to leave alone about it.
St Helens vs Salford
Unlike the other match both these sides go into this one off the back of disappointing defeats in the Challenge Cup last week so they will be eager to get back to winning ways here.
St Helens were given a bit of a towelling by Hull FC last week in a match where their defence was exposed by a big pack. Salford lost to Castleford but that defeat already doesn’t look as badly as it did given Castleford’s form on Thursday night.
St Helens welcome Adam Swift back from injury for this match which is a big boost. He’ll give their back line a bit more stability and will be a threat in attacking areas but he’ll be tested in his first game back. Salford will be without Tommy Lee and Josh Griffin but Login Tomkins is back from a ban.
When these two met in the reverse fixture Salford ran riot and that will surely have given St Helens all the ammunition they need to be at full tilt here. This will be a different test to last week for the Saints.
Last week they faced a powerful pack up the middle and while Salford can mix it down the middle their pace and power in the wider areas are their strength and is their half back pairing who are creating plenty of scoring opportunities and leading them around the field.
Salford have a good record against the spread away from the AJ Bell Stadium this season and I fancy them to cover the handicap here too. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if they win the match but I suspect St Helens might have something about them in this game so I wouldn’t want to take them on outright.
Salford match up well to St Helens though and they had the extra day to recover from their Challenge Cup defeat which could prove key if the match is close late on so that makes me confident that the Salford Red Devils can stay within 10pts here.
Tips
Back Salford (+10) to beat St Helens for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Ladbrokes
Back them here:
