The opening weekend of the Super League season continues on Saturday when two more sides get their campaign underway when Hull KR take on the team who ended last term in second place in the table in Wigan Warriors.
There has been a lot of change at Craven Park ahead of the new season and now we get to see whether those switches have had the desired effect. Things have been much more settled at Wigan and they’ll hope to use that to their advantage.
Where to watch
The Super League is on domestic terrestrial TV again this season and this is the first match on Channel 4. The build-up at Craven Park begins at 12.30pm with kick off coming along at 1pm.
Hull KR
I think it is fair to say that last season went anything other than to plan. It ultimately cost Tony Smith his job and there was no way that Danny Maguire could arrest the slump and in the end from being 80 minutes from Old Trafford the season before, they missed out on the play-offs completely. They will hope that the change in coach and the players they have brought into the club in the off season turn things in the right direction again.
They will want to make the top six this season and Willie Peters will have that as his mandate. If that is going to happen then they will need to hit the ground running and make Craven Park the fortress it can be once again. In Mikey Lewis, KR have one of the best players in the league on his day but he can’t carry them on his own so he will need his forwards to get him in positions to pounce and then his fellow backs to feed on the opportunities he creates.
Wigan Warriors
After landing the Challenge Cup in the first part of the season last term, many thought it was the year that the Wigan Warriors would get their hands back on the Super League crown. The Leeds Rhinos didn’t read that script though and dumped the Warriors out in the semi-final in what was not the way Wigan would have wanted a promising season to end. Champion teams usually use that sort of disappointment to fuel the fire for the following year.
Wigan have largely kept their squad together with the exception of one or two who have left. Importantly the two livewire backs Jai Field and Bevan French have been retained and you would imagine Wigan are going to be dangerous as a result of that. If there was a criticism of them last season it was that their defence could sometimes get exposed and it will be interesting to see if that has got any stronger this term.
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Team News
Hull KR have named a strong squad for this match. It includes the spine of Lachlan Coote, Jordan Abdull and Mikey Lewis while the likes of Sauaso Sue and Louis Senior will be in line for their debuts in the Hull red.
Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell missed the World Cup with injury but he has been named in the squad by Matt Peet for this match. The Warriors are set to give competitive debuts to Toby King and Jake Wardle in the centres.
Betting
This feels like the most interesting match of the weekend and that is largely down to the home side. We get an early chance to find out whether they are the Hull KR of a couple of seasons ago or the one of last season. They will hope it is the former and Wigan Warriors will hope it is the latter. I would rather find out for sure though before I get too involved in Hull KR matches and the eight point start Wigan are conceding feels about right anyway.
I will go with one bet though and that comes in the form of Liam Marshall scoring a try in this game. He has scored seven times in his last three matches against Hull KR over the past two seasons and so the 6/5 that he crosses the try line in this match looks a little big. I’ve already mentioned in my season preview that I expect Marshall to go well this season with Liam Farrell down his side potentially leading more Wigan attacks in this direction. It would also mean that Wigan aren’t going down the Hull KR left where Ryan Hall and Shaun Kenny-Dowall are a good combination. Assuming I’m right and Wigan do go down that way Marshall is a big price to score in this one.
Tips
Back L.Marshall to score anytime for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Bet365
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