After an exciting Challenge Cup weekend, Super League returns with a three-day programme with no Sunday games for the first time this season ahead of a double header next week.
Thursday night sees Hull host Huddersfield with both sides looking to bounce back from their Challenge Cup exits to Salford and St Helens. The hosts will hope to go one better than their city rivals Hull KR who claimed a draw against Huddersfield early in the campaign.
Both sides go into the game with similar records in 2014 and are in 7th and 8th in the table so there is the prospect of a close game. Hull recall Gareth Ellis into their squad while Huddersfield will have to do without ever-present Brett Ferres as he starts a five-game suspension for his tackle on Lomax last Sunday.
Hull - Bowden, Carvell, Colbon, Ellis, Hadley, Heremaia, Houghton, Miller, Paea, Paleaaesina, Rankin,
Shaul, Talanoa, Thompson, Tuson, Watts, Westerman, Whiting, Yeaman.
Huddersfield - Grix, McGillvary, Wardle, Murphy, Brough, Robinson, Crabtree, Lunt, Kopczak, Fairbank, Chan, Bailey, Lawrence, Ta'ai, Wood, Broughton, Kaufusi, Johnson, Connor.
A hard one to call but I think Huddersfield having the shorter turnaround could prove vital and as such say Hull 30 Huddersfield 22.
The stand out game on Friday sees the top two clash between Castleford and St Helens with Saints still holding a 100% record while Castleford have seven wins from eight with their sole loss against Salford.
Both sides have vastly improved from 2013 and the chance to be top going into the Easter programme is a good prize, Saints will be wary of Castleford's home form which includes a last-gasp win over Wigan and might prefer to lose their unbeaten record this week than suffer it against Wigan next Friday but their current run suggests it could continue for a while.
A short turnaround from Sunday could mean a feisty start and tiring ending making for a tasty 80 minutes which will be seen on Sky Sports with Saints welcoming back Jon Wikin in pace of the sidelined Kyle Amor while Castleford welcome back Daryl Clark, Craig Huby, Grant Millington and Jake Webster in place of Michael Channing, Dan Fleming, Ashley Gibson and Ben Reynolds
St Helens -1.Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3.Jordan Turner, 4. Josh Jones, 5. Adam Swift, 6. Lance Hohaia, 7. Luke Walsh 8. Mose Masoe, 9. James Roby, 11. Sia Soliola, 12. Jon Wilkin, 13. Willie Manu, 14. Anthony Laffranchi, 15. Mark Flanagan, 17. Paul Wellens, 18. Alex Walmsley, 23. Joe Greenwood, 25. Anthony Walker, 26. Matty Dawson.
Another close game and maybe too close with both in good form so I will gamble here on Castleford 25 St Helens 25.
Two ties offer the potential for revenge from Challenge Cup exits as Hull KR visit Warrington and Wakefield visit Leeds with both hoping to turnaround their home defeats at the weekend.
Hull KR came close to ending Warrington's cup hopes having led at half-time and midway through the second half but Warrington did well to comeback and will be wary of Rovers' gunning for revenge for Sunday's narrow defeat.
Both sides won the respective home games in 2013 so Rovers will look to end turn that around in looking for first away win of the season after good performances at Wigan, Huddersfield and St Helens where they were unlucky not to win.
Warrington have had a mixed start to the season with only one win from three at home so will be looking to bounce back from the last home game where they lost to rivals Wigan while hoping to move up the table.
Warrington - Roy Asotasi, Ryan Atkins, Chris Bridge, Ben Currie, Brad Dwyer, Anthony England, Rhys Evans, Simon Grix, Ben Harrison, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, James Laithwaite, Joel Monaghan, Michael Monaghan, Richie Myler, Stefan Ratchford, Matthew Russell,Trent Waterhouse, Paul Wood.
Hull KR-Travis Burns, Keal Carlile, Omari Caro, Ben Cockayne, Neville Costigan, Jordan Cox, Ade Gardner, James Green, Craig Hall, Josh Hodgson, Graeme Horne, Kris Keating, Kevin Larroyer, Rhys Lovegrove, Jason Netherton, Liam Salter, Adam Walker, Kris Welham, Michael Weyman.
Rovers are due an away win and this could be the one for them so like at the weekend, I am going for them saying Hull KR 28 Warrington 24.
Wakefield will hope to avoid consecutive heavy defeats to Leeds after the mauling they received on Sunday extended their recent bad form while Leeds will look to close up on the top two with a second win over the Wildcats.
The sides drew at Headingley in the Boxing Day friendly and Wakefield would be glad of a repeat as they look move up the table while,avoiding being pulled closer towards the danger zone.
The short turnaround sees Hardaker's run of 32 starts end for Leeds with Jones-Bishop coming in while Peacock makes his 500th career appearance and Kirke his 200th for the Rhinos. Wakefield welcome back Riley, Briscoe, Walshaw and Annakin in place of Collis, Lyne, Tautai and Smith.
Leeds - Ben Jones-Bishop, Kallum Watkins, Joel Moon, Ryan Hall, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Kylie Leuluai, Jamie Peacock, Carl Ablett, Kevin Sinfield, Stevie Ward, Brett Delaney, Ryan Bailey, Ian Kirke, Chris Clarkson, Mitch Achurch, Tom Briscoe, Liam Sutcliffe, Brad Singleton.
Wakefield - Moore, Sammut, Annakin, Walshaw, Briscoe, Siejka, Scruton, RileyMathers, Fox, Sykes, Godinet, Anderson, McShane, Raleigh, Lauitiiti, Kirmond (c), Washbrook, Ryan.
Despite a raft of changes since Sunday, I believe the result will be similar so Leeds 48 Wakefield 12.
In what could have been a family affair had Mandy Koukash taken over Bradford, Marwan Koukash takes his Salford side up to Yorkshire with a couple of new signings as Iestyn Harris replaces head coach Brian Noble and Logan Tomkins joins from Wigan on a month's loan.
Bradford are buoyant after a new takeover and a rampant win in the Challenge Cup and would love to pile pressure on Salford after the staffing changes from Friday. Salford have the advantage of two days extra preparation which could play a part in bouncing back from the loss to Hull.
Both sides will be eager to prove themselves given the recent changes off the pitch and could make for an exciting evening.
Bradford - Danny Addy, Matty Blythe, Matt Diskin, James Donaldson, Jamal Fakir, Dale Ferguson, Jamie Foster, Luke Gale, Lee Gaskell, Adam Henry, Elliot Kear, Brett Kearney, Manase Manuokafoa, Anthony Mullally, Adam O’Brien, Adrian Purtell, Adam Sidlow, Chev Walker, Sam Wood.
Salford - squad not announced as of yet.
A close game is a possibility but I think Salford will come out on top so say Bradford 18 Salford 26.
Friday's final game on paper is a mismatch as champions Wigan host struggling London with early predictions suggesting a repeat of last year's 70-0 score in the Cup semi final could be on the cards.
Wigan seem to be slightly looking at the chance of an easy game with a number of stars sitting out with Smith, Flower and Farrell rested while Charnley has been sidelined for two months. Bowen returns to the 19 with Powell returning from injury and a surprise call up for Sutton. London are without Slyney who is suspended and Griffin who is sidelined while Mataitonga and Cunningham return to the squad.
London's wait for a first league win may have to be extended as it wouldn't be a bias to say a win on Friday would need nothing short of a miracle performance from the Broncos. Wigan have bounced back from a mixed start to 2014 with four wins in a row in all competitions including the last two at Warrington and Dewsbury while they would love to go into next week's Good Friday derby at Langtree Park in high spirits.
Sarginson and Clubb are likely to face their former side as London are a shadow of the side that featured when the sides met in last year's Challenge Cup a fate that will not repeat this year after their exit to Catalan last week.
Wigan - Bateman, Bowen, Burgess, Clubb, Dudson, Gelling, Goulding, Green, Hughes, James, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Pettybourne, S. Powell, Sarginson, Sutton, Taylor, Thornley, Williams.
London- Bishay, Caton-Brown, Cook, Cunningham, Drinkwater, Farrar, Foster, Greenwood, Krasniqi, Macani, Mataitonga, McMeeken, Minns, Moore, O'Callaghan, Solomona, Vea, Wallace, Woodburn-Hall.
This could be a demolition for the visitors and a huge points advantage for Wigan so Wigan 50 London 12.
The final game of the weekend sees Catalan host Widnes on Saturday with both confident after advancing in the Challenge Cup. Widnes will be wary of Catalan's form at home where they have claimed their only league win of the season in beating Huddersfield.
Catalan have improved after a bad start and the form of Escare has been on of the main reasons with six tries in eight games but Widnes will arrive in France with a good record of five wins from six in the league and will hope to avoid a repeat of last year's visit that saw them lose 46-14 .
This again could be an exciting game but I think Catalan's improvement may continue so Catalan 29 Widnes 28.
Thursday night sees Hull host Huddersfield with both sides looking to bounce back from their Challenge Cup exits to Salford and St Helens. The hosts will hope to go one better than their city rivals Hull KR who claimed a draw against Huddersfield early in the campaign.Both sides go into the game with similar records in 2014 and are in 7th and 8th in the table so there is the prospect of a close game. Hull recall Gareth Ellis into their squad while Huddersfield will have to do without ever-present Brett Ferres as he starts a five-game suspension for his tackle on Lomax last Sunday.
Hull - Bowden, Carvell, Colbon, Ellis, Hadley, Heremaia, Houghton, Miller, Paea, Paleaaesina, Rankin,
Shaul, Talanoa, Thompson, Tuson, Watts, Westerman, Whiting, Yeaman.
Huddersfield - Grix, McGillvary, Wardle, Murphy, Brough, Robinson, Crabtree, Lunt, Kopczak, Fairbank, Chan, Bailey, Lawrence, Ta'ai, Wood, Broughton, Kaufusi, Johnson, Connor.
A hard one to call but I think Huddersfield having the shorter turnaround could prove vital and as such say Hull 30 Huddersfield 22.
The stand out game on Friday sees the top two clash between Castleford and St Helens with Saints still holding a 100% record while Castleford have seven wins from eight with their sole loss against Salford.Both sides have vastly improved from 2013 and the chance to be top going into the Easter programme is a good prize, Saints will be wary of Castleford's home form which includes a last-gasp win over Wigan and might prefer to lose their unbeaten record this week than suffer it against Wigan next Friday but their current run suggests it could continue for a while.
A short turnaround from Sunday could mean a feisty start and tiring ending making for a tasty 80 minutes which will be seen on Sky Sports with Saints welcoming back Jon Wikin in pace of the sidelined Kyle Amor while Castleford welcome back Daryl Clark, Craig Huby, Grant Millington and Jake Webster in place of Michael Channing, Dan Fleming, Ashley Gibson and Ben Reynolds
Castleford - 3.
Michael Shenton, 4. Jake Webster, 5. Justin Carney, 6. Luke Dorn, 7.
Marc Sneyd, 8. Andy Lynch, 9. Adam Milner, 10. Craig Huby, 11. Grant
Millington, 12. Weller Hauraki, 13. Nathan Massey, 14. Daryl Clark, 15.
Ryan Boyle, 16. Oliver Holmes, 18. Frankie Mariano, 19. Scott Wheeldon,
20. Jamie Ellis, 24. James Clare, 26. Liam Finn.
St Helens -1.Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3.Jordan Turner, 4. Josh Jones, 5. Adam Swift, 6. Lance Hohaia, 7. Luke Walsh 8. Mose Masoe, 9. James Roby, 11. Sia Soliola, 12. Jon Wilkin, 13. Willie Manu, 14. Anthony Laffranchi, 15. Mark Flanagan, 17. Paul Wellens, 18. Alex Walmsley, 23. Joe Greenwood, 25. Anthony Walker, 26. Matty Dawson.
Another close game and maybe too close with both in good form so I will gamble here on Castleford 25 St Helens 25.
Two ties offer the potential for revenge from Challenge Cup exits as Hull KR visit Warrington and Wakefield visit Leeds with both hoping to turnaround their home defeats at the weekend.
Hull KR came close to ending Warrington's cup hopes having led at half-time and midway through the second half but Warrington did well to comeback and will be wary of Rovers' gunning for revenge for Sunday's narrow defeat.Both sides won the respective home games in 2013 so Rovers will look to end turn that around in looking for first away win of the season after good performances at Wigan, Huddersfield and St Helens where they were unlucky not to win.
Warrington have had a mixed start to the season with only one win from three at home so will be looking to bounce back from the last home game where they lost to rivals Wigan while hoping to move up the table.
Warrington - Roy Asotasi, Ryan Atkins, Chris Bridge, Ben Currie, Brad Dwyer, Anthony England, Rhys Evans, Simon Grix, Ben Harrison, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, James Laithwaite, Joel Monaghan, Michael Monaghan, Richie Myler, Stefan Ratchford, Matthew Russell,Trent Waterhouse, Paul Wood.
Hull KR-Travis Burns, Keal Carlile, Omari Caro, Ben Cockayne, Neville Costigan, Jordan Cox, Ade Gardner, James Green, Craig Hall, Josh Hodgson, Graeme Horne, Kris Keating, Kevin Larroyer, Rhys Lovegrove, Jason Netherton, Liam Salter, Adam Walker, Kris Welham, Michael Weyman.
Rovers are due an away win and this could be the one for them so like at the weekend, I am going for them saying Hull KR 28 Warrington 24.
The sides drew at Headingley in the Boxing Day friendly and Wakefield would be glad of a repeat as they look move up the table while,avoiding being pulled closer towards the danger zone.
The short turnaround sees Hardaker's run of 32 starts end for Leeds with Jones-Bishop coming in while Peacock makes his 500th career appearance and Kirke his 200th for the Rhinos. Wakefield welcome back Riley, Briscoe, Walshaw and Annakin in place of Collis, Lyne, Tautai and Smith.
Leeds - Ben Jones-Bishop, Kallum Watkins, Joel Moon, Ryan Hall, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Kylie Leuluai, Jamie Peacock, Carl Ablett, Kevin Sinfield, Stevie Ward, Brett Delaney, Ryan Bailey, Ian Kirke, Chris Clarkson, Mitch Achurch, Tom Briscoe, Liam Sutcliffe, Brad Singleton.
Wakefield - Moore, Sammut, Annakin, Walshaw, Briscoe, Siejka, Scruton, RileyMathers, Fox, Sykes, Godinet, Anderson, McShane, Raleigh, Lauitiiti, Kirmond (c), Washbrook, Ryan.
Despite a raft of changes since Sunday, I believe the result will be similar so Leeds 48 Wakefield 12.
In what could have been a family affair had Mandy Koukash taken over Bradford, Marwan Koukash takes his Salford side up to Yorkshire with a couple of new signings as Iestyn Harris replaces head coach Brian Noble and Logan Tomkins joins from Wigan on a month's loan.Bradford are buoyant after a new takeover and a rampant win in the Challenge Cup and would love to pile pressure on Salford after the staffing changes from Friday. Salford have the advantage of two days extra preparation which could play a part in bouncing back from the loss to Hull.
Both sides will be eager to prove themselves given the recent changes off the pitch and could make for an exciting evening.
Bradford - Danny Addy, Matty Blythe, Matt Diskin, James Donaldson, Jamal Fakir, Dale Ferguson, Jamie Foster, Luke Gale, Lee Gaskell, Adam Henry, Elliot Kear, Brett Kearney, Manase Manuokafoa, Anthony Mullally, Adam O’Brien, Adrian Purtell, Adam Sidlow, Chev Walker, Sam Wood.
Salford - squad not announced as of yet.
A close game is a possibility but I think Salford will come out on top so say Bradford 18 Salford 26.
Friday's final game on paper is a mismatch as champions Wigan host struggling London with early predictions suggesting a repeat of last year's 70-0 score in the Cup semi final could be on the cards.Wigan seem to be slightly looking at the chance of an easy game with a number of stars sitting out with Smith, Flower and Farrell rested while Charnley has been sidelined for two months. Bowen returns to the 19 with Powell returning from injury and a surprise call up for Sutton. London are without Slyney who is suspended and Griffin who is sidelined while Mataitonga and Cunningham return to the squad.
London's wait for a first league win may have to be extended as it wouldn't be a bias to say a win on Friday would need nothing short of a miracle performance from the Broncos. Wigan have bounced back from a mixed start to 2014 with four wins in a row in all competitions including the last two at Warrington and Dewsbury while they would love to go into next week's Good Friday derby at Langtree Park in high spirits.
Sarginson and Clubb are likely to face their former side as London are a shadow of the side that featured when the sides met in last year's Challenge Cup a fate that will not repeat this year after their exit to Catalan last week.
Wigan - Bateman, Bowen, Burgess, Clubb, Dudson, Gelling, Goulding, Green, Hughes, James, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Pettybourne, S. Powell, Sarginson, Sutton, Taylor, Thornley, Williams.
London- Bishay, Caton-Brown, Cook, Cunningham, Drinkwater, Farrar, Foster, Greenwood, Krasniqi, Macani, Mataitonga, McMeeken, Minns, Moore, O'Callaghan, Solomona, Vea, Wallace, Woodburn-Hall.
This could be a demolition for the visitors and a huge points advantage for Wigan so Wigan 50 London 12.
The final game of the weekend sees Catalan host Widnes on Saturday with both confident after advancing in the Challenge Cup. Widnes will be wary of Catalan's form at home where they have claimed their only league win of the season in beating Huddersfield.Catalan have improved after a bad start and the form of Escare has been on of the main reasons with six tries in eight games but Widnes will arrive in France with a good record of five wins from six in the league and will hope to avoid a repeat of last year's visit that saw them lose 46-14 .
This again could be an exciting game but I think Catalan's improvement may continue so Catalan 29 Widnes 28.
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