The latest round of matches in the Super League concludes on Friday night when three matches take place, two at Headingley and one over in France as the competition continues to keep trying to get through to the end of the season.
Four of the top five are in action over the course of what could be a pretty big night at the top of the Super League table with the win percentage being the determining factor now. The Headingley double header is live on Sky and there will be various updates of the other game.
The Format
There has been a change in the format of the season. The ‘loop matches’ and Magic Weekend have bitten the dust so teams will play 20 regular season matches ahead of the playoffs. Scrums are a thing of the past for the remainder of the season. They are being replaced with a tap restart to prevent the spread of the virus. The ‘six to go’ rule that is being used in NRL is also coming into the Super League with more eyes likely to be on the game with other sports yet to get back up and running. It has since been announced that the Super League table will be based on point percentage rather than total points.
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Wakefield Trinity vs St Helens (17.30 – Sky Sports Mix)
The first match of the night sees the champions St Helens going up against the bottom team in the league in Wakefield Trinity in what many judges, including the bookmakers, are expecting to be a very dominant win for the Saints.
Saints are being asked to cover 30 points on the handicaps for this match and that is probably understandable when you consider that the Trinity injury list and Covid-19 issues are so bad that had Castleford Tigers not dropped out of their match this week Wakefield would have done. Facing St Helens at any time is tough let alone when you are patched up. There is even talk Wakefield will need to name ‘the least injured’ players in their squad here. That should mean St Helens should cover that 30 points but even allowing for the things in their favour that is just too high a line for me to feel comfortable getting involved in.
Catalans Dragons vs Hull KR (18.15)
The match over in France sees the Catalans Dragons looking to make it back to the top four of the table when they entertain a Hull KR side who have provided some eye catching rugby since the restart and will look to cause a big upset here.
Hull KR have had the luxury of only playing one match in the last two weeks which is something of a godsend with the way the schedule has been put together recently, but despite that they are haemorrhaging points at an alarming rate at the minute. The Dragon are being asked to cover around 20 points on the handicap and in a normal situation I would probably take them to overcome that but I’m wary that they only played on Saturday and freshness at the minute is proving to be a real advantage. If the Dragons do cover then so be it but I’m not chasing big handicaps.
Warrington Wolves vs Wigan Warriors (19.45 – Sky Sports Mix)
The pick of the matches not just on the night on Friday but on the week as a whole is the final match of the evening when the two Challenge Cup losing semi-finalists from last weekend meet when the Warrington Wolves take on the Wigan Warriors.
The Wolves were undone by Salford Red Devils in wretched conditions at the weekend while the Warriors just didn’t show up to the fight against the Leeds Rhinos and while both teams will be looking for reactions to those defeats, you sense the bit will be firmer in the teeth of the Wigan side just because they simply didn’t perform at all, whereas Warrington just didn’t take enough of their chances over the course of the 80 minutes.
Wigan haven’t been helped with a few Covid issues this week but by and large their key players are all available here and I think the eight points they are getting in this match is too big a start. Warrington were on a brilliant run in the Super League before resting everyone in defeat to Salford last week but they have only beaten one side in the top half of the table since lockdown so that run is inflated a little. Wigan have a decent recent record against Warrington in the Super League having won six of the last eight. I’m not sure if they win this but they have enough to stay within eight.
Tips
WON – Back Wigan Warriors (+8) to beat Warrington Wolves for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
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