The Super League XXIX weekend continues on Saturday afternoon with two more massive matches as we begin to wind towards the end of the regular season with so much still up for grabs for plenty of teams.
We have already had the race for top spot play out and on Saturday the focus will be on the battle to make the playoffs. As ever this season both matches are available to watch live on TV so sit back and enjoy a great looking day of rugby league.
Hull FC vs St Helens (15.00 – Sky Main Event & Sky Sports Action)
The opening match of the afternoon comes from the MKM Stadium as St Helens look to repel the teams charging in behind them for the final playoff spot when they head to Humberside to take on an improving Hull FC side.
A month or so ago had you said that St Helens would go to Hull FC and only be asked to give up a try on the handicap people would have thought you had gone mad but that is the case here. That shows how their form has dropped off a cliff and they looked absolutely terrible at Leigh last week. The loss and the margin of the defeat was bad enough for St Helens but they lost Jack Welsby to a lengthy injury and that might have been worse than the result of that game long-term. Mark Percival and Jonny Lomax are suspended for this one too so Saints are going to need to do this the hard way. Hull FC are showing better form than they did at the beginning of the season and a win over the Wigan Warriors last week is testament to that but they are missing some big players here with Liam Sutcliffe and King Vuniyayawa added to the extensive injury list while Ligi Sao is suspended. With all the absentees leading to two patched up sides this is an obvious match to leave well alone.
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Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos (17.30 – Sky Main Event & Sky Sports Action)
The second of the matches to be played out on Saturday afternoon sees two teams in the mix for a playoff spot battling it out at the AJ Bell Stadium when the Salford Red Devils look to consolidate their top six spot when they host the Leeds Rhinos who are chasing one.
There are currently four points between these two sides with St Helens in between the two at the start of the day so this could be a huge day for the Rhinos as were Saints to lose earlier in the day they could move level on points with them and within two of Salford with a win. A defeat for Leeds would probably see Salford away and gone and would leave the Rhinos needing a strong finish to the season. Salford aren’t just playing for a playoff spot here. That is their immediate aim but a win in this match could see them move into fourth spot which is significant as it means that they would host a quarter final rather than travel to France which they would be doing as it stands. Leeds get two big forwards back for this one which could be significant with Justin Sangare and Mickael Goudemand returning from injury so with everything on the line we should get a really good match here. Leeds have won four of their last seven with two of the defeats in that time coming against members of the top three but Salford have won their last four here so something is going to have to give. Both these teams like to throw the ball around and with a reliable goal kicker in both camps I think we might be in for a high scoring game in perfect rugby conditions. The point line is only 36.5 here and that looks low enough to attack in a match where both could easily get to 20 points but if there is a dominant side that team could crack the 30 point mark.
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