A place in the Grand Final at Old Trafford is at stake on Thursday night when the Warrington Wolves host St Helens in the first Super League semi-final at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. The winners will head to the Theatre of Dreams to take on either Wigan Warriors or Hull FC next Saturday while the losers will be done for the season. It is rugby league at its purest.
Warrington Wolves
In a way Warrington eased the pressure on themselves when they secured the league leaders shield last week with an excellent win at Hull FC. They can take confidence from the fact that the last two table toppers went on to win the Grand Final and with home advantage they couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.
I am slightly concerned that they fail to get it done in the big matches and I’m not sure they got over the line themselves last week and didn’t just take advantage of a Hull FC side who have had their wind well and truly taken out of their tails. We will certainly find out in this match but Warrington are a good side capable of winning any match when just on field issues are considered.
St Helens
Saints head into this semi-final off the back of 11 wins in 12 matches so in terms of form they have it in spades. It might actually have suited St Helens that they couldn’t finish any better than fourth going into the semi-finals because it meant they were able to rest players in their final match last week.
St Helens will go into the match knowing they have won twice at the Halliwell Jones this season and knowing you can do something in sport is a huge thing. They also have this psychological hold over Warrington on this ground and although I keep thinking it won’t be relevant you only have to see the number of close finishes that Saints win here to suggest it is.
Team News
Warrington will be without Ben Currie for this match as the second rower is done for the season. Chris Sandow has been left out of the squad too as he hasn’t recovered from injury but Kurt Gidley does return from an injury of his own.
St Helens were able to rest Adam Swift, Greg Richards and James Roby in their win last week and all three return to the squad for this match. Luke Walsh and Jonny Lomax are both in the squad too and could be big players.
Betting
This should be a great semi-final. These are two excellent sides to watch and when they come together they usually always provide excitement, fireworks and spates of drama and given what is on the line here I’m expecting much more of the same.
At the prices I have to go with the visitors here. As I’ve said above I do have this nagging feeling that Warrington struggle to get it done in the big matches at the minute and even more so when they are favourites with more to lose than to gain. That is the case here. St Helens aren’t expected to win this match so they can play with a little more freedom and ultimately that can be the difference.
Tips
Back St Helens to beat Warrington for a 4/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
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