It is England vs Australia, Super League vs the NRL for three nights this weekend as the annual World Club Series takes place.
The three hugely anticipated games involving most of the stars of the sport begin with a mouth-watering clash between St Helens and the NRL table toppers Sydney Roosters at Langtree Park on Friday night.
The nationality effect of this series is often played down but both sides will be keen to get their respective league off to a winning start and showcase the talent in each competition.
St Helens go into this match off the back of two Super League matches so they will have the fitness edge although it goes without saying they will need to be 20 times better than they were against Salford last week just to be competitive here. They will know that.
St Helens were blown away by a Salford side who opened them up out wide every time they attacked and that will have been a big concern for Kieron Cunningham and his men.
Saints suffered a blow when James Roby was ruled out of this match but they do have Travis Burns and Dominique Peyroux back for this one. Mark Percival is out with a long term injury which isn’t ideal. The St Helens forwards will get through plenty of work here.
Sydney Roosters topped the NRL table last season but lost out in the semi-finals to the Brisbane Broncos so they will be out to make up for that disappointment this season. They will also relish the chance to get the focus back to on field issues after the Mitchell Pearce saga last month.
The Roosters will give a debut to former Wigan winger Joe Burgess in this match and he is sure to get a tasty reception from the St Helens crowd. Ian Henderson is another one who could debut after a stint in the Super League with the Catalans Dragons but the aforementioned Pearce isn’t available. Jayden Nikorima and Jackson Hastings will patrol the halves.
This will be a mental as well as a physical test for St Helens who were humbled by a 39-0 scoreline when they faced the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the World Club Challenge last year. They will be desperate to avoid a repeat but that hiding might just serve as a reminder for how tough this task is going to be.
On the flip side St Helens have the fitness edge but I’m expecting the Roosters to negate that by having plenty of the ball and moving St Helens around and then testing them with the kicking game that all Australian sides are famed for.
St Helens need to stay in the game early. If they do that and the Roosters tire then Saints might be able to take advantage late on but they lose so much with James Roby out of the side. He’s the one who leads them around the park so his absence can’t be overplayed.
Ultimately while I think St Helens will give this a good go I expect the Sydney Roosters to show their class and their powerful looking back line can ensure they draw first blood to Australia this weekend and do so by at least a couple of scores.
WON – Back Sydney Roosters (-7.5) to beat St Helens for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
