The Super League weekend continues on France on Saturday evening when the Catalans Dragons welcome the Warrington Wolves in what should be billed as a heavyweight contest but it would need the best of the visitors for that to be the case.
A win for the Dragons will move them back into the top two in the Super League table while victory for the Wolves would see them move into the top six for 24hrs until the Sunday matches get played out in full.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena channels. The build-up begins at 4.55pm with the kick off in France coming at 5pm UK time.
Catalans Dragons
The season of the Catalans Dragons hasn’t carried the same profile or headline attraction of last year to date. Whether that is because people have appreciated they are one of the best teams in the competition now and expect them to deliver positive showings or just because there has been a more regimented feel about their victories this term I’m not sure but it probably isn’t a bad thing that they are flying under the radar.
I suspect one reason is because they were on TV a lot last season in double headers behind closed doors during Covid but there is no huge sign that they have regressed at all, even in light of a pretty awful injury list. They have the best defence in Super League this term and as is always the case they have been perfect at home with five wins from five matches. If they can start to impose themselves on teams offensively then the Dragons are definitely Grand Final contenders once again.
Warrington Wolves
The Warrington Wolves might have won in this part of France last season but based on what we have seen so far this term it is going to take something pretty special for them to repeat that feat here. Despite Daryl Powell bringing a reputation for free flowing, entertaining rugby, what he hasn’t been able to do is get his exciting style instilled on his charges and as a result of that they have lacked consistency and worse still a sign that they can dig in when the going gets tough.
Warrington’s woes have been pretty clear for all to see this season. They fade defensively when under pressure and have conceded way too many easy tries for a side with the reputation they have. They only have two wins on their travels this term and they were at a Leeds Rhinos who were a man light for most of the match on the opening week of the season and Toulouse Olympique who are not up to this level. Worse still, when they have taken on the bigger teams in the league they have shipped points at will. Wigan, Wakefield, St Helens and Hull KR have all scored 28 points or more against Warrington this season and unless they tighten up defensively this will be another season of flattering to deceive.
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Team News
Steve McNamara will be able to welcome full-back Sam Tomkins into his squad after the Man of Steel has recovered from injury. That will free up Arthur Mourgue to move into the halves and lessen the impact of the Josh Drinkwater injury. Mike McMeeken, Dean Whare and Samisoni Langi are all out injured.
Warrington Wolves coach Daryl Powell also gets his number one back for this match with Stefan Ratchford back in the squad. He will also be without a key half-back in Gareth Widdop but unlike the Dragons, the Wolves won’t have a readymade replacement to move into position.
Betting
I don’t think the Warrington Wolves get anything out of this match in terms of winning it but I am a little reluctant to take them on because surely at some point the penny is going to drop with them and we are going to see the real team that they can be. They will certainly have the conditions for that here. They should be able to throw the ball around and played fast flowing rugby which might be enough for them to stay close to the Catalans Dragons, but I wouldn’t exactly want to be relying on that either.
I think the best way to play this match is to take over 40.5 points. That line was covered in Warrington where Sam Tomkins didn’t play the match. Arthur Mourgue didn’t either so two creative Catalans players are back here. Wigan put 40 points up on Warrington last time out and you’ve got to think that the Catalans will pile points on them too. Catalans have already stuck 28 on Wigan here and Castleford went for 44. Warrington should contribute to the scoring though if only in consolation efforts. On a hot and dry French day we should see the ball given some air here and the points can flow readily.
Tips
Back Over 40.5 points for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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