It is somewhat fitting that the final match of the Magic Weekend involves the Super League leaders Castleford Tigers. They take on the Leeds Rhinos to bring the curtain down on the showpiece weekend at St James’ Park.
Castleford head into the contest looking to extend their lead at the top of the table while the Rhinos will be eager to close the gap heading into another busy period of rugby league over the bank holiday weekend.
Castleford Tigers
The improvement in the Castleford Tigers was very much expected heading into the season given the signings they made in the off-season but I don’t think anyone expected to see the dominance that we have from them. They have been relentless at times this season with St Helens the latest to feel the full force of them in the cup last week.
Leeds have already been given a good going over by the Castleford Tigers this season. The Tigers have been no respecter of reputation this year. They have got themselves on the front foot and thrown the ball around with a freedom and an excitement that has been wonderful to watch whether you are a Tigers fan or not.
Leeds Rhinos
In many ways the Leeds Rhinos might have Castleford Tigers to thank. It was the brutal beating they suffered at the hands of the Tigers earlier in the campaign that triggered something of a turnaround in their fortunes and while they won’t have wanted to suffer that defeat there is no doubt it did them good in the long term.
Since that heavy defeat Leeds have won seven of their nine Super League matches and eased into the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup. They have been scoring plenty of points and not conceding all that many which has made for a potent combination and with their knowhow of how to win big matches writing them off could be silly here.
Team News
Zak Hardaker will face a fitness test before he is confirmed to line up against his parent club. Ben Roberts sits this one out as Tom Holmes comes back into the side after impressing in the cup last week.
Leeds will recall Kallum Watkins after giving him last week off while Brett Delaney is fit for a return to the side too. Carl Ablett aside this looks like a near full strength Rhinos squad.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
If there is one side you wouldn’t want to be facing at the Magic Weekend it is probably the Castleford Tigers but the Leeds Rhinos are the sort of side who will roll their sleeves up and give this a real good go so this should be a brilliant finale to the weekend.
I’m tempted to back Castleford to cover the 10pt start because they are relentless at the minute but I think the better bet is to expect the points to flow in this one. Castleford are putting up 50 burgers on most sides these days but Leeds are likely to find the try line often enough themselves so a 49.5pt total line doesn’t look nearly high enough.
Tips
Back Over 49.5pts for a 5/10 stake at 1.91 with Skybet
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
