The Super League season kicked off with a cracker at Headingley on Thursday night and on Friday evening six more sides will get their campaigns underway including the beaten Grand Finalists from last year in the form of Wigan.
Wigan host Catalans Dragons in the TV game while elsewhere St Helens face off against Huddersfield and Hull FC will look to confirm that the hype around them is justified when they take on Salford at the KC Stadium.
Wigan will be looking to get off to a quick start this season but they take on a really talented Catalans side. A lot of pundits and experts are expecting good things from the Dragons this season and it will be interesting to see if they are able to deliver.
Certainly the signings made by the French outfit are eye catching. Pat Richards is a particularly good one and he’ll be back on his old stomping ground for this game. Richards isn’t the only signing which stood out in the off season. The acquisitions of Paul Aiton, Richard Myler, Glenn Stewart and Dave Taylor were solid too.
Wigan’s main winter signing was the return home of Sam Tomkins but injury means he is going to miss a fair bit of the season. Willie Isa was brought in from Widnes but with Matty Bowen retiring and Joe Burgess heading to the NRL it remains to be seen whether the Warriors have a back line to compete in Tomkins’ absence.
Catalans lost some key players too in Scott Dureau who has retired, Michael Oldfield, Ian Henderson, Elliott Whitehead, Zeb Taia and Jeff Lima who all went back to the NRL so how quickly they gel as a side remains to be seen.
If Catalans are to fulfil the expectations people have for them this year they are going to have to improve their away form which has been wretched for far too long. They certainly have the personnel to be competitive that’s for sure.
Wigan are giving the Catalans 10pts here which might just be a few points too many given how much change there has been in the Warriors’ ranks this season. I’m not sure if the Dragons will be settled into a unit enough to win the game but the individual talent they have can keep them within double figures here.
Hull FC and Salford are two sides who have seen a lot of player turnover in the winter and I’m keen to see how both sides perform before I get too involved in their matches. Frank Pritchard is a wonderful signing for Hull but with Tom Lineham and Joe Westerman gone and Gareth Ellis injured for this match I don’t want to chance them covering 10pts.
Salford are perennially unsettled and on paper don’t look as strong as they have in some seasons gone by but it might be this is the year they surprise everyone. There are too many unknowns to go wading into this one at this stage of the season though.
I am happy to get involved in the other match though where Huddersfield look a little light in the forwards to be only getting six points from St Helens.
Craig Huby is injured for the Giants while Brett Ferres and Craig Kopczak have moved to new clubs. Jack Hughes played an underrated role last year and he’s not around this year while Luke Robinson’s injury and Shaun Lunt’s move to Hull KR has left Huddersfield light at hooker too.
Saints have named their four pre-season signings in their squad and their big forwards are all available which is going to be big for them. I just see Saints’ pack overpowering the Giants and Kieron Cunningham’s men can cover a converted score off the back of that.
Back Catalans Dragons (+10) to beat Wigan for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Ladbrokes
WIN – Back St Helens (-6) to beat Huddersfield for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Ladbrokes
Rugby League YTD: +3.2pts
Thanks for this – will definitely back St Helens!