The Super League XXIX weekend continues on Saturday afternoon with three matches which sees half of the competition head towards the halfway mark of the season ahead of the break for the Challenge Cup final next week.
As will be the case throughout the entirety of the season, all three matches are live on TV for us to enjoy and follow our bets without being at any of the games, although you’ll need a couple of devices for that as two clash.
Warrington Wolves vs Wigan Warriors (15.00 – Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Action)
The opening match of the day sees two of the best teams in the Super League this season battling it out a week out from meeting at Wembley in the Challenge Cup final as the Warrington Wolves take on the champions Wigan Warriors.
The Wolves are really ticking along nicely at the minute. Not only have they set up their trip to Wembley next week but they are in the top three in the Super League and arrive into this match off the back of a fine win in France last week. Wigan were equally as impressive in reaching Wembley a fortnight ago and have now won their last four in all competitions. What will please Matty Peet the most about this wins is they have conceded just 26 points in total in those four matches. We know that the Wigan attack is as potent as they come and if their defence continues to stand up like this then this could be a silverware ladened campaign for the World Club Challenge winners. The caveat to this match though is that Sam Burgess looks like he is focusing more on next week rather than this one because he is resting a number of star players while George Williams is suspended which is less than ideal. That has led to Wigan being put in as 1/7 favourites for the match and being asked to cover a handicap in the 16 point region. I wouldn’t like to say that they won’t cover it but we could easily get into a situation where Wigan go out in front and bring players off themselves and offer up the backdoor cover so I’ll give this one as swerve.
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Hull KR vs Leigh Leopards (17.30 – Sky Sports Arena)
While the opening match of the day is a rehearsal of the Challenge Cup final next week, one of the later ones to kick off is a repeat of the closer of that competition from last season as Hull KR play host to the team who got the better of them at Wembley in Leigh Leopards.
Leigh won that final and went on to have a decent campaign in the Super League while Hull KR got all the way to the semi-final of this competition last term and are sitting nicely for another tilt at the title this time around but the way they offered nothing in the last four of the Challenge Cup a couple of weeks ago is a huge concern, although in fairness since then they have absolutely battered the London Broncos. It took a while for the Leopards to come to the party this season but they have won three of their last four matches and drawn the other and are steadily making their way up towards the top six and a win here would enhance their hopes of getting there. Hull KR are very good at Craven Park and tough to beat so Leigh are going to need to be at their best to contain them but the eight point handicap looks about right to me so I’ll give this one a miss too.
Leeds Rhinos vs Castleford Tigers (17.30 – Sky Sports Action & BBC Two)
The other match on Saturday afternoon is a Yorkshire derby at Headingley where the terrestrial TV cameras will be on show when the Leeds Rhinos play host to their local rivals Castleford Tigers in a big game for both sides.
Neither of these teams are performing how they would have expected to with them sitting eighth and tenth in the standings respectively. Leeds have been particularly disappointing and have lost their last two matches coming in here. While they have lost away to the Catalans Dragons and St Helens in those two games the 26-0 and 40-10 margins would be concerning. Castleford have won two of their last four and drawn another although it should be pointed out that the two wins were against London Broncos and Hull FC who have been awful so far this season. The draw at Leigh was encouraging though and they were competitive for a long period against St Helens before unravelling after a red card. You get the feeling there is a lot of pressure on Leeds here and while I would imagine they will have enough about them to get the job done in the end in this one, I’m less convinced that they cover 8.5 points so I’ll go with the Tigers to stay within that line in what could be a tense affair in the final quarter.
Tips
Back Castleford Tigers (+8.5) to beat Leeds Rhinos for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
