The Super League returns from the Challenge Cup break on Thursday when three matches take place in the competition as eyes begin to head towards the prospect of running out at Old Trafford in the Grand Final later in the season.
We have a couple of sides on show on Thursday who will be eyeing up their berth at Old Trafford and others looking to improve their chances. The second and third games are live on TV in the UK with social media and other streams the way to keep up to date with the first one.
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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Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos (14.45)
The first game of another busy week in the Super League sees the entertainers of the season so far in Hull KR taking on a Leeds Rhinos team who look like they mean business in their bid to make it back to Old Trafford and attempt to win back this title.
Based on their last two efforts, Hull KR would look to have every chance of winning this contest as they have beaten Wigan in that time and only went down to St Helens by a golden point. Leeds had a bit of a tough time of it a few weeks ago but they have won their last two matches in Super League and progressed in the Challenge Cup when they were comfortably too good for this opposition last week. There should be plenty of points here but on a relatively short turnaround it wouldn’t be a surprise if this one goes against logic given how recent their last meeting was.
Hull FC vs Salford Red Devils (18.00)
The second match of the three on Thursday might turn out to be the most entertaining one of them as a talented Hull FC side go up against the Salford Red Devils who are on the hunt for silverware once again having made the Challenge Cup semi-finals last week.
Hull FC have already taken a pretty big beating at the hands of the Salford Red Devils since lockdown and they’ll be out to make sure there is no repeat of that but a hefty defeat by Wigan in the cup at the weekend might have taken its toll. Salford should be buzzing from a fine win over Catalans in the cup last week, one where their character was tested and they came out the right side. That confidence and the impact Kallum Watkins has on their side makes me think the Red Devils are good value in this one at 5/4.
Castleford Tigers vs Huddersfield Giants (20.15)
The final match of the day is a Yorkshire derby in which bragging rights is pretty much all that is on the line for the Castleford Tigers and Huddersfield Giants as both teams have not had the return to action they would have liked and already the build up to next season is likely to be high on the agenda.
The Giants have been particularly poor since lockdown and that meant the end for Simon Crawford. They will be looking to make much more positive strides under Luke Robinson and a win over Wakefield Trinity last week suggests they might be heading in that direction. The last time we saw Castleford they were losing to Hull FC in the cup when you could see just by looking at them that they were a physically shattered side so it is very much a positive for them that they were nowhere near a rugby pitch last week. At this time of year I happen to think that freshness could be a godsend and in a match which looked fairly even if not on the side of the Tigers anyway, their fresher legs make them the bet here.
Tips
WON – Back Salford Red Devils to beat Hull FC for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Betfred
Back Castleford Tigers to beat Huddersfield Giants for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
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