The second round of Super League matches is a truncated one with the World Club Challenge taking some sides out of the reckoning but there is still a match to kick things off on Thursday night which this week sees the Huddersfield Giants taking on the Salford Red Devils.
Both sides were expected to be battling to avoid being in the bottom four of the Super League table so this is a chance for the pair of them to lay a marker down and give themselves some early breathing space on a potential rival.
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield needed a good start to the season to put the horror show of last year behind them and they got exactly that with a competitive win at Widnes last week and now in front of their own fans they will be looking to put on a bit of a show and get everyone behind them once again like they were a couple of seasons ago when the Giants were a real force.
I maintain my thinking that Huddersfield are a work in progress or in transition if you like and with that in mind I would like to see them put in a really convincing performance here. I will be particularly interested to see how their forwards go in this one as they looked much weaker in that area on paper heading into the season.
Salford Red Devils
It was a match of two halves for the Red Devils against Wigan last week but the way they finished the match will have given them some confidence to take into this one even though they ended up losing. The match was lost by half time and while Wigan might have taken their foot off the gas credit needs to go to Salford for not letting their heads get down and to come out fighting.
We’ve seen over the last couple of seasons that Salford have the back line and the half back combinations to create scoring opportunities. What we now need to see on top of that is the ability to stoutly defend their try line when they are put under pressure and in what could turn out to be a big game like this there is no time like the present.
Team News
Despite winning last week the Giants have been forced into a change. Tom Symonds is out injured so Sam Rapira comes in to replace him.
Todd Carney tweeted on Thursday that his visa application has been approved but he won’t be around for this match. Logan Timkins and Josh Jones come into the squad.
Betting
Huddersfield kick off this match as the favourites to win and pretty short too at 1/2. I sense that might be an overreaction to last week when Huddersfield beat a side I expect to struggle in Widnes while Salford Red Devils lost to a side who won’t be far away at the top in Wigan.
This will be a different clash for both and if we had seen a bit more of both sides I might have chanced Salford to win the match but given that they get an 8pt start with some bookmakers there is no need to push the boat out. Whoever wins this I think the importance of it will ensure it is a close game so I’ll take Salford to stay within eight.
Tips
WON – Back Salford Red Devils (+8) to beat Huddersfield Giants for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
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