The Super League returns from the Challenge Cup break on Thursday evening with a clash between two sides who have been prominent throughout the era of the competition as the Leeds Rhinos play host to the Wigan Warriors side.
We are now at the point in the season whereby the teams are using their home grounds so Leeds actually have a bonafide home match here, although the opening round of matches were also at Headingley so they haven’t been disadvantaged too much.
Where to watch
The match will be screened live in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena channels. The build up begins at 7pm with the match itself starting at 7.45pm.
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos have had an up and down start to the season. They beat Wakefield Trinity in their first match, although they weren’t overly convincing in doing so, and then they were beaten by the Castleford Tigers. They then saw their Challenge Cup defence ended at the first hurdle last week when they were dumped out by St Helens as injuries hampered them massively in that match. They will be hoping to be stronger here to put in a better showing.
Just how much home advantage the Rhinos have here without any fans in remain to be seen. We saw last season that when they are good they can be very good but at the same time there were just as many times when they were poor and when those outings came about they were very ordinary indeed. They need to be very much in the former category if they are going to get anything out of a clash with the beaten finalists of last season.
Wigan Warriors
You would struggle to argue that the Wigan Warriors have been any more convincing in their matches this season but they have won all three matches and the one thing you can never criticise a team for is winning. They edged out the Leigh Centurions in their opening match before overwhelming Wakefield Trinity in the second half. They then came through in the Challenge Cup last week and look to be building their way into form.
That was to be expected because they were without some key players at the beginning of the season and one by one they are starting to come back now. Slow starts to the season is nothing new for the Warriors. We are used to them peaking at the business end of the campaign rather than the beginning of it, so you could argue that they are off to a better start than they usually are which bodes very well for them.
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Team News
It is a big night for the Leeds Rhinos’ utility back Kyle Eastmond. He has been named in their squad and could play his first game of rugby league in 10 years if he is selected. Luke Gale, Robert Lui, Ritchie Myler and Zane Tetevano are among those missing through injury or suspension.
Wigan Warriors have a big player of their own back for this match in the form of Bevan French. The full-back has been named in the squad which will allow Zak Hardaker to move back into the centres. Jai Field, Dom Manfredi and Liam Marshall remain out injured.
Betting
I’ve got to think the Wigan Warriors will win this match but whether they are going to cover a dozen point start this early in the season and this relatively quickly after the Challenge Cup matches remains to be seen. If they do then I think it could be because the Rhinos don’t score many points rather than the amount that the Warriors put up so with that in mind I like Leeds Rhinos under 15.5 points as the bet in this one.
The Rhinos didn’t cover this total against the Castleford Tigers a couple of weeks ago and they never made double figures against St Helens last week until the game was won and two injuries depriving Saints of replacement players had kicked in. Wigan conceded three well worked tries in the opening period against the Leigh Centurions in week one but have only shipped one try since then. We know that the Wigan defence is as tough as they come and is the foundation their success is built on and a Leeds team missing all their creative established halves may struggle to unlock the door often enough to get beyond 15.5pts.
Tips
WON – Back Leeds Rhinos – Under 15.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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