The pick of the three matches on day two of the Super League Magic Weekend is the second game which sees the Wigan Warriors taking on the Warrington Wolves at St James’ Park on what should be a perfect afternoon for rugby.
These two sides look pretty good for their places in the top six come the end of the regular season but there is every chance they will meet again in the play-offs so there is a chance for them both to lay a bit of a marker down here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Arena channel with the build-up to the contest beginning after the action from the first game is finished. The match is a 3.15pm kick off.
Wigan Warriors
This clearly hasn’t been the best season so far for the Wigan Warriors but despite looking quite ordinary by their standards for much of it, they are still in with a chance of winning another Grand Final. There was a significant development in the week when Adrian Lam confirmed he’s off at the end of the season and I would imagine the Warriors will be hoping that has a similar effect on their players as the decision made by Daryl Powell has had on the Castleford ones.
I suspect it isn’t quite as simple as that for the Wigan side. Their problems lie a little deeper than the coach. Their attack has looked disjointed all season but they do at least come into this match off the back of a positive result against Castleford Tigers on Monday afternoon. They needed that though because they were in a bit of a hole. They shut the Tigers out in that match and that defensive effort is going to need to be replicated for the rest of the season if they are to have a chance of winning the title.
Warrington Wolves
This has been a much better campaign for the Warrington Wolves than we often get from them but there is still that nugget of doubt about them in the big matches and their loss to St Helens on Monday night did nothing to ease those concerns. One thing that match showed us was that the Wolves have to be at their best when they take on the better teams in the competition so that is the task at hand for them here.
Warrington let themselves down a little bit against St Helens in the attacking department on Monday evening while some of their defending out wide was a little bit questionable. There was a sense of a bit of panic in their attacking play without Blake Austin but a side as athletic as them really shouldn’t have too many difficulties in that department. If Warrington defend well here they should have enough to get the job done but that isn’t necessarily a given.
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Team News
Wigan Warriors will welcome hooker Sam Powell back into their squad for this match while Umyla Hanley is also available for selection. They remain without the suspended Willie Isa while Bevan French and Tommy Leuluai are done for the season.
Blake Austin and Josh Charnley are both back in the squad for the Warrington Wolves. The latter will come straight back in for Tom Lineham who is suspended after an incident against St Helens. George Williams will face his former club for the first time.
Betting
I understand that the Warrington Wolves are the favourites for this match and I get why but I’m not so sure they should be giving 10 points to a side as good as the Wigan Warriors. When you look at the respective form of the two sides then Warrington look a mile clear but we saw on Saturday that teams will raise their game and generally give their best performance on this stage and Wigan are still a good side even if they have had their issues recently.
One key for Wigan is that Sam Powell is back for this one. You can’t get anywhere long-term in this game without a good number nine so he can control the match and set the foundations for the likes of Jackson Hastings to do his thing. I’m still a bit concerned with Warrington in these big matches and although I would imagine they’ll be good enough to win the game, I’m not sure I see them running away with it especially after their confidence was dented on Monday whereas Wigan’s was boosted. I’ll ride the 10 point start that Wigan get here.
Tips
Back Wigan Warriors (+10) to beat Warrington Wolves for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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