One of the potentially best weeks of Super League I can remember begins at Langtree Park on Thursday night as St Helens look to give themselves a chance of a home semi-final when they go up against Warrington.
Four sides go into the final round of the regular season all being able to finish top although Saints need a mathematical miracle if they are to land the leaders shield. A top two finish is possible if they win the game. Warrington are playing purely for pride.
St Helens are on a bit of a roll at the minute. They won one of the games of the season last week against Wigan which was their third win in a row and it could be that they have hit form at just the right time. They will be hoping the derby win didn’t take too much out of them.
To be honest Warrington have been largely awful this season but they showed what they can do in a one sided battering of Catalans last week and their fans will hope for a repeat here to end their season on a positive note.
Saints will be without Travis Burns and Alex Walmsley here. Both missed last week’s win and weren’t missed too much but they’ll be hoping both are back soon. Matty Dawson comes into the squad possibly to play in the centres with Jordan Turner remaining at stand off.
The Wolves have made just one change to last week’s win. Gary Wheeler drops out and Sam Wilde comes in to pep up the forward options. This will be a final game in a Warrington shirt for the likes of Joel Monaghan, Gareth O’Brien, Richie Myler and Roy Asotasi and they’ll be aiming to leave in style.
Warrington’s record on the road this season doesn’t make good reading but by and large when they’ve gone up against the better sides they have performed with credit.
They have played St Helens three times over this campaign and although they’ve lost all three they’ve only been beaten by six, four and eight points so they’ve not been ashamed. They have a pair of wins over Leeds and a win over Wigan to their name as well so they are capable of raising their game.
If Saints genuinely think they can hit the top they are going to have to run riot here but I’m pretty confident they will realise that isn’t possible and I’m sure they will just want to win this match, particularly if there are some heavy legs in the side after that physically tough match last week.
All that put together I think Warrington with the 12pt start is the way to go here. They can play with freedom, throw the ball around and create some try scoring opportunities and each score they produce puts more pressure on St Helens.
It might be that Saints are good enough to handle that pressure but without two of their more important players and coming off the back of a hard game last week all coupled with a need just to win rather than look fantastic I’ll take the Wolves with the start.
Back Warrington (+12) to beat St Helens for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betway
Blog RL YTD: +12.99pts
