The second match of the Super League play-offs takes place on Friday night but unlike the opening game, this one is not a knockout match. Wigan Warriors host Salford Red Devils in a big game at the DW Stadium but both sides know they will play again next week.
The winner of this match will travel to St Helens for the first semi-final of the competition while the losers will host the Castleford Tigers in what would be a knockout match, so although this isn’t a must win game there is a decent reward for actually coming out on top.
Wigan Warriors
Although St Helens topped the regular season table by a distance, it was the Wigan Warriors who finished that part of the campaign in the best form, form which has already been franked by the Castleford Tigers, the side who the Warriors saw off in a big game at the DW last weekend. They have won 12 of their last 13 matches and begin this play-off series knowing that if they can win their next two they will be walking out at Old Trafford once again.
Amazingly in that run, only once in those wins have they conceded more than 18pts so the defence that Wigan have become famous for in recent times, which had let them down so badly at the start of the season, has come good at just the right time. With the creativity and power in attacking areas there is a strong case to be made that Wigan are serious contenders for this title once again.
Salford Red Devils
It isn’t just Wigan going into this match in good form though. The Salford Red Devils are too. They head to the DW Stadium having won their last eight matches, which is quite some record when they began the campaign as the second favourites to be relegated. If anything, the longer this run has gone on, the better they have got and you should always respect that, regardless of the name on show.
They got over the line in the golden point extra time last week, but prior to that their other seven wins in this run had all come by more than a converted try, so they are not just winning matches, they are beginning to dominate them and that should be a great feeling heading into this match. Salford will know though that they have played Wigan three times this season and lost the lot, something they’ll be out to change here.
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Team News
Wigan are bringing a couple of big guns into their squad for this match with Liam Marshall and Liam Farrell both being recalled to strengthen them out wide and up the middle. George Williams will be their key man.
Salford Red Devils make three switches to their set up for this game. Gil Dudson, Mark Flanaghan and Tyrone McCarthy come in to pep up the forward line. In a strange twist of events, Jackson Hastings, who will play for Wigan next season, will oppose them here.
Betting
I respect the form of the Salford Red Devils but at the same time I expect Wigan Warriors to win the match, especially with home advantage. For me the question is how many they will win it by but I’m not sure it will be a landslide win. This is effectively a cup game even though there is no do or die nature to it so while I expect Wigan to win I’d be surprised if they ran away with it.
Salford have enough about them these days to maintain their poise under pressure and they have a lot of creative options in their attacking play to open up a stubborn Wigan defence. I still don’t see them having enough to win the game though but they can stay close and as a result of that Wigan winning by 1-12 appeals to me.
Tips
WON – Back Wigan Warriors to win by 1-12pts for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Betfair
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