After ten rounds of the Betfred Super League the question is whether any side can stop the relentless march of St Helens to the Minor Premiership, Grand Final and Ladbrokes Challenge Cup final, while in the Betfred Championship the other sides are wondering who will be joining Toronto, Toulouse and Featherstone in the Middle Eights come the split.
This weekend there are six Super League matches spread over five days, six Championship games over three days, and seven Championship one fixtures including a fixture reversal between Doncaster and Hemel Stags where Doncaster will host.
We get underway on Thursday night when the television cameras are at Widnes for the visit of Hull FC. Denis Betts brings youngster Owen Farnworth into his nineteen man squad for the first time this season while FC will definitely be without Brad Fash (broken jaw) and will make late calls on Fetuli Talanoa, Sika Manu and Mark Minichiello while Dean Hadley is still unavailable due to a knee injury. The bookies have installed the Airlie Birds as the strong favourites to pick up the points and lift themselves to fifth place in the table.
Friday sees one of the highlight matches of the season when the Leeds Rhinos take on the Wigan Warriors with second place up for grabs. The Rhinos will be bolstered by the return of Adam Cuthbertson, Joel Moon and Brett Delaney, the latter two after missing the narrow win at Wakefield last weekend. The visitors make just one change with Morgan Escare returning to replace Ben Flowers who has been ruled out with concussion. Leeds are tipped to just edge it but it promises to be a close encounter.
On Saturday afternoon the Warrington Wolves, flying high after a brilliantly successful Easter, take on Hull KR who are desperate to start climbing the table to secure a top eight spot. The pundits are all tipping a home win and for the Wolves to continue the pressure on the league leaders. Warrington are looking to make it six consecutive victories while KR are seeking their first back-to-back wins in Super League 2018.
The remaining fixtures all take place on Sunday afternoon.
Wakefield, still smarting from their narrow loss to the Leeds Rhinos last weekend are at home to the league leaders with few people giving them a chance of getting anywhere near the Saints. Saints have only lost once in 2018, a home game to the Rhinos a month ago. Wakefield have lost their last three games by less than six points but haven’t recorded a win since beating the Giants on the 4th March.
Huddersfield Giants entertain Salford Red Devils as tenth plays eleventh. Both sides are struggling in 2018 having amassed just 11 out of a possible 40 points between them. It is over a month since the Giants recorded a win over the Widnes Vikings and the Red Devils have just one try to their name in their last 160 minutes of rugby. There is little promise of a classic as the two sides put the result ahead of the rugby.
The final game of the weekend is a 15:30 kick off at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle where the woeful Catalans Dragons are in town and seeking to cause a massive upset by taking the points off Castleford Tigers. The bookies don’t give the visitors a snowball in hell’s chance of the win. The Dragons will be looking to regain the form which saw them to a big win over the Giants a fortnight ago while Daryl Powell will be demanding an improvement from his Tigers side who were pushed close by an injury riddle Giants side last time out.
In the Championship on Friday night the Rochdale take on a London side looking to put an awful Easter period behind them and renew their challenge for the top four. Batley take on Toulouse on Saturday afternoon and the visitors are sure to have paid attention to the home sides performance against Toronto last weekend. The remaining fixtures are on Sunday with Barrow Raiders hosting Featherstone, The Wolfpack at Dewsbury Rams, Halifax with what looks like a home banker against the Swinton Lions and Sheffield hoping to continue a decent Easter at home to the Leigh Centurions who will be hoping that London Broncos slip up and that they can get themselves into the top four.
All seven Championship One games take place on Sunday afternoon;
14:00 Bradford Bulls v. Coventry Bears
15:00 Doncaster v. Hemel Stags
15:00 Hunslet v. Workington Town
15:00 North Wales Crusaders v. Newcastle Thunder
15:00 Oldham v. Keighley Cougars
15:00 Whitehaven v. West Wales Crusaders
15:00 York City Knights v. London Skolars
Wherever you watch your rugby this weekend, enjoy.
