The second part of the Super League XXIX Magic Weekend action on Sunday is possibly the biggest match of the week as the leaders going into the round of matches, Hull KR, go up against the Catalans Dragons at Elland Road.
Hull KR have seen their rivals for the top spot both win this week with Wigan and Warrington winning on Saturday and now they have the chance to return to the summit. The Dragons are in a battle for the top six so both teams need to win here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Action channel with the build-up beginning around 3.30pm ahead of the 4pm kick off in Leeds.
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons have been able to occupy a spot in the top six throughout the season so far but you just sense their place in it is beginning to become a little more vulnerable as other sides in that band improve while the chasing pack start to find their feet. The French outfit still have enough in hand for the time being to be relatively comfortable but they will be well aware that this is not the month to have a slump in form else they might put their playoff spot at risk.
The Dragons come here having lost two of their last four matches, with those two defeats to London Broncos and Castleford Tigers who are way down the league table. Even the two wins, also to teams in the bottom six, didn’t have a great deal that was convincing about them so we need to see an improvement from the Catalans, but the big issue is the injury list that they are carrying. They went into the campaign with a lighter squad so any injuries were always going to be an issue.
Hull KR
You have to say that Willie Peters has turned Hull KR into a really good unit in a fairly short space of time. If you were wondering whether they were top of the table, or in the vicinity of it, because of a kind period of fixtures, we are deep enough into the season to suggest that isn’t the case. As a team you always want to be getting stronger at this point of a campaign and it is hard to argue that Hull KR are not doing that so they are genuine contenders for the two remaining trophies this season.
Hull KR are the form team in the Super League having won nine of their last 10 matches and the one they lost in that period was in golden point extra time, although they will be only too aware that was against the opponent they face here. In this run, KR have piled on the points on a number of occasions but what I have liked about the Robins is that they have been hard to score against. No side has scored more than 16 against them in this 10 game run and that takes a lot of pressure off their attack.
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Team News
Catalans Dragons are expected to give a debut to new signing Reimis Smith who came in from the Melbourne Storm recently but they remain without the likes of Michael McIlorum and Sam Tomkins for this encounter.
Hull KR coach Willie Peters has had the luxury of naming an unchanged 21-man squad for this key clash and you would imagine that unless there are any last-minute injuries or illnesses in the came the 17 will be unchanged.
Betting
The narrative around this one is that Catalans Dragons are a bogey team for Hull KR and when you consider that they have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two that isn’t a difficult claim to make but we have to remember that for much of that period of time Catalans would have been the more established and better side of the two. I’m not convinced that is the case this time around so I’m looking to be on the Robins in this one.
You can get bits of them to cover a 7.5 point handicap at fair prices if you shop around and while it isn’t completely the same bet as the six point cap which has the draw in play because a drop goal to put two scores between the two would be a play if needed, the regularity of that happening is generally low enough to make me approach it as the same lines. I think Rovers have a couple of scores between them and Catalans here, especially with Sam Tomkins not leading the Dragons around the park. I like Hull KR to cover that 7.5 point spread here.
Tips
Back Hull KR (-7.5) to beat Catalans Dragons for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
