The second rivals round in the Super League XXX season concludes on Sunday afternoon with a pearler of a derby for us to enjoy when the two sides of Hull come together at Craven Park as Hull KR host Hull FC.
Love is rarely lost between these two teams but with the home side wanting points to close in the on the League Leaders’ Shield and the visitors wanting points to boost their top six claims, we can be sure of another competitive and feisty contest.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and exclusively on the Sky Sports+ channel with the build-up getting underway at 2.30pm ahead of the 3.05pm kick off.
Hull KR
The leaders Hull KR begin the afternoon knowing that they need two wins from their final three matches in order to secure the League Leaders’ Shield, which would be their second piece of silverware of the season having already banked the Challenge Cup earlier in the campaign. Of more immediate importance to them, a win over their rivals here would guarantee a top two finish which would ensure that they won’t need to play a quarter final which is often significant.
It would also ensure that they host a semi-final here at Craven Park and when you consider that they have won 10 of their 12 Super League matches here that feels significant. Hull KR have won five of their last six outings in the competition so even though it has been a long season, they are showing no signs of slowing down. Their defence has been immaculate all year and they have the wonderful combination of the best attack in the competition as well as the best defence.
Hull FC
You could argue that this match is bigger for Hull FC than it is for Hull KR though. They now sit outside the top six looking in with three matches to play and were they to lose this game then they would give up control of their own destiny which nobody wants to do with just two games in the season remaining. This has been a much improved season whatever happens but there will be more than a tinge of disappointment if it isn’t converted into a playoff spot.
Injuries are beginning to bite very hard for Hull FC though and they are coming along at the wrong time. They probably didn’t have the best squad depth anyway so injuries to star players hurt them a lot. They have lost their last two matches as a result and they are going to have a job on to contain their rivals here. The positive for Hull is their last two matches are at home to teams with nothing to play for so all isn’t hinging on this match, but were they to be beaten they would be relying on Wakefield to slip up and with them having Salford in the last game, ironically the only real chance of that happening is against Hull KR next week.
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Team News
Willie Peters has made one change to his squad for the derby which was enforced on him with Rhyse Martin beginning a suspension. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves returns from a ban of his own and will come in for the Papua New Guinea international.
Hull FC are having to manage a huge injury list. That list includes Will Pryce, Ed Chamberlain, John Asiata, Ligi Sao and now Herman Ese’ese whose absence will extend into next season which is a real blow. Sam Eseh is back in the squad though.
Betting
Hull KR have won the last five meetings between these two rivals and it is hard to believe that run is going to end here even allowing for the fact that it is a derby and as we’ve seen already this weekend that can throw up some different patterns of play. The Robins are being assigned a task of covering 24.5 points which I certainly wouldn’t want to take them not to cover but in a derby clash where the win means more than anything I don’t want to be rushing to back them to do it.
With that in mind, I’m going to have to go for a different market for a bet here. Hull FC are struggling to contain half backs from getting over their try line at the minute and that makes me want to focus on them in the anytime tryscorer market. Mikey Lewis is plenty short enough though while Tyrone May isn’t really a scoring threat so the 7/5 on the full-back Arthur Mourgue to cross the line feels like the bet. He’ll join in with all of the attacking play, especially if there is nothing coming the other way, and he scored in the reverse meeting against Hull FC earlier in the season. If Hull FC focus on stopping Lewis, which isn’t a terrible game plan, then the elusive Mourgue could be the one to profit.
Tips
Back A.Mourgue to score a try for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Bet365
