Looking for an edge on the Super League season? Find out who we are backing in each week’s matchups with our weekly Super League predictions. Get all the news, results and opinions to stay ahead of the competition and make your predictions count.
Related: Super League Round 1 Results
Salford Red Devils Vs Hull KR
Date: 23/02/23, Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT, Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Salford Red Devils 21-Man Squad: Ryan Brierley, Ken Sio, Kallum Watkins, Tim Lafai, Joe Burgess, Brodie Croft, Marc Sneyd, Jack Ormondroyd, Andy Ackers, King Vuniyayawa, Sam Stone, Oliver Partington, Chris Atkin, Tyler Dupree, Shane Wright, Alex Gerrard, Ellis Longstaff, Amir Bourouh, Rhys Williams, Matt Costello, Deon Cross.
Hull KR 21-Man Squad: Ethan Ryan, Tom Opacic, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Jordan Abdull, Sauaso Sue, Matt Parcell, George King, Frankie Halton, Kane Linnett, Elliot Minchella, Jez Litten, James Batchelor, Jimmy Keinhorst, Will Dagger, Mikey Lewis, Dean Hadley, Louis Senior, Sam Wood, Luis Johnson, Sam Luckley, Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e.
Both sides made a perfect start to their campaigns. Salford had a really good win away at fancied Leigh. They coped with the pressure well and after settling into the affair, they took control and forced errors at the right time. Once they got in front, they never looked like losing the game. I thought they worked really hard as a team and impressed on opening day against what was an exciting Leigh side.
As for KR, they had a real shock opening day win against one of the Grand Final favourites, Wigan. After what was a cagey first half, that Hull did just shade, they came out without Ryan Hall second half and continued their dominance and brushed Wigan away with ease. It was a fantastic display. One I don’t think they can repeat with four key players missing this week in Hall, Coote, Storton and Rhys Kennedy. Salford have Burgess back into the fold and I think they’ll have too much on home soil for KR to handle.
Prediction: Salford by 10 points
Huddersfield Giants Vs Warrington Wolves
Date: 24/02/23, Kick-off Time: 19:45 GMT, Venue: The John Smith’s Stadium
Huddersfield Giants 21-Man Squad: Adam O’Brien, Ashton Golding, Chris McQueen, Chris Hill, Esan Marsters, Harvey Livett, Jake Bibby, Jermaine McGillvary, Joe Greenwood, Josh Jones, Kevin Naiqama, Leroy Cudjoe, Luke Yates, Matty English, Nathan Peats, Olly Russell, Olly Wilson, Owen Trout, Theo Fages, Tui Lolohea, Will Pryce.
Warrington Wolves 21-Man Squad: Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Daryl Clark, Ben Currie, Jack Darbyshire, Josh Drinkwater, Matt Dufty, James Harrison, Leon Hayes, Adam Holroyd, Sam Kasiano, Peter Mata’utia, Tom Mikaele, Greg Minikin, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell, Josh Thewlis, Paul Vaughan, Danny Walker, Tom Whitehead, George Williams.
This is the only game we go into without knowing what a side is all about in 2023. It’s Huddersfield’s first game of the season and their first true run out with some meaning behind it. They would have watched Warrington close last week and like many others, been impressed with how well they controlled and dominated a real poor Leeds side, being the highest scoring side of round one with 42 points.
Giants are high up on many people’s predictions this year and I think a lot is expected of them in 2023. This is a tough opener for sure, against a Wire side, who, ran riot in round one and look a very different attacking prospect this season. Warrington will come up against a much tougher opponent in Huddersfield and they will kickstart their season with a narrow win.
Prediction: Huddersfield Giants by 6 points
Leeds Rhinos Vs Hull FC
Date: 24/02/23, Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT, Venue: Headingley Stadium
Leeds Rhinos 21-Man Squad: Richie Myler, David Fusitu’a, Nene Macdonald, Ash Handley, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Kruise Leeming, Zane Tetevano, Rhyse Martin, Cameron Smith, Jarrod O’Connor, Sam Lisone, Derrell Olpherts, Justin Sangare, Tom Holroyd, James McDonnell, Morgan Gannon, Sam Walters, Luis Roberts, James Donaldson, Leon Ruan.
Hull FC 21-Man Squad: Tex Hoy, Adam Swift, Liam Sutcliffe, Darnell McIntosh, Jake Clifford, Danny Houghton, Chris Satae, Andre Savelio, Jordan Lane, Brad Fash, Joe Lovodua, Joe Cator, Kane Evans, Cam Scott, Ben McNamara, Jack Brown, Josh Griffin, Davy Litten, Harvey Barron, Scott Taylor, Brad Dwyer.
There haven’t been much worse opening day defeats than the one Leeds had last week at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. They were truly pathetic, and that’s being quite nice to them. It was a horror show from the first minute and they never looked in the game at any stage. It was a worrying sight for Leeds fans, despite it only being round one, there were zero positives they could take from that game.
As for Hull FC, they won their opener in what turned out to be a tight finish. But that wasn’t the story of the game, one they led 32-6 with around 20 minutes to play and ended up just 32-30 winners in the end. They impressed for an hour, especially Tex Hoy who shone on his debut, with two try assists from full back and ran the attacking show for Hull. The end to the game may give Leeds hope for this game, but they’ll need to improve a lot to beat the black and whites.
Prediction: Hull FC by 8 points
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Wigan Warriors Vs Wakefield Trinity
Date: 24/02/23, Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT, Venue: DW Stadium
Wigan Warriors 21-Man Squad: Jai Field, Bevan French, Toby King, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall, Cade Cust, Harry Smith, Brad Singleton, Sam Powell, Liam Byrne, Willie Isa, Liam Farrell, Morgan Smithies, Mike Cooper, Kaide Ellis, Ethan Havard, Kai Pearce-Paul, Joe Shorrocks, Patrick Mago, Brad O’Neill, Abbas Miski.
Wakefield Trinity 21-Man Squad: Max Jowitt, Jorge Taufua, Corey Hall, Tom Lineham, Lee Gaskell, Mason Lino, Eddie Battye, Liam Hood, Jai Whitbread, Matty Ashurst, Kelepi Tanginoa, Jay Pitts, Liam Kay, Renouf Atoni, Lee Kershaw, Kevin Proctor, Morgan Smith, Samisoni Langi, Rob Butler, Lewis Murphy, Sam Eseh.
Round one was full of surprises and Wigan losing was top of the bill. Many thought they were favourites for the title, the Warriors limped to a much-deserved defeat at Craven Park. They started okay, scored some nice tries, but were let down by ill-discipline, unforced errors, and a lack of converting four into six when they needed it most. Despite Smithies being is binned, they never got going at any stage of the game.
Wakefield, like their opponents, had a poor start to the season. They faced an injury struck Catalan side at home and lead a couple of times, but ultimately didn’t have enough and conceded some sloppy tries, including a hat-trick to former Trinity star, Tom Johnstone. Wigan could have asked for a better game to kickstart their season with than this and they should run out comfortable winners.
Prediction: Wigan Warriors by 18 points
Catalan Dragons Vs Leigh Leopards
Date: 25/02/23, Kick-off Time: 17:00 GMT, Venue: Stade Gilbert Brutus
Catalan Dragons 21-Man Squad: Arthur Mourgue, Tom Davies, Adam Keighran, Matthieu Laguerre, Micky McIlorum, Julian Bousquet, Matt Whitley, Paul Séguier, Benjamin Garcia, Mickael Goudemand, Romain Navarrete, César Rougé, Tiaki Chan, Arthur Romano, Jordan Dezaria, Tom Johnstone, Bastien Scimone, Ugo Tison, Sam Tommins, Loan Castano, Tanguy Zenon.
Leigh Leopards 21-Man Squad: Zak Hardaker, Tom Briscoe, Ed Chamberlain, Ricky Leutele, Josh Charnley, Lachlan Lam, Tom Amone, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Wardle, Jack Hughes, John Asiata, Ben Nakubuwai, Ben Reynolds, Oliver Holmes, Gareth O’Brien, Matt Davis, Aaron Smith, Jacob Gannon, Kai O’Donnell, Ava Seumanufagai.
Despite being down a few first team players last week, Catalans did a great job and came out comfortable winners in what was a bit of a tricky opener for them. Being back on home soil and in front of their frantic fans, this should be a more comfortable game for them to play, albeit, against trickier opposition in the Leigh Leopards, who will be after shaking off their defeat last week.
Leigh did okay for large portions of their game, but silly errors cost them dearly in the end. If they’d of played a few other teams last week, they’d of come out winners, but Salford are tough to beat on the best of days. This is an intriguing game, as Dragons are still without a number of big players, with only the potential return of Tomkins on the cards. Leigh will be up for the fight, but I do fancy the home side to continue their winning start to the season.
Prediction: Catalan Dragons by 8 points
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Castleford Tigers Vs St Helens
Date: 26/02/23, Kick-off Time: 13:00 GMT, Venue: The Mend-A-Hose Jungle
Castleford Tigers 21-Man Squad: Niall Evalds, Greg Eden, Jordan Turner, Mahe Fonua, Bureta Faraimo, Gareth Widdop, Jacob Miller, George Lawler, Paul McShane, George Griffin, Kenny Edwards, Alex Mellor, Joe Westerman, Nathan Massey, Adam Milner, Jack Broadbent, Albert Vete, Muizz Mustapha, Jake Mamo, Cain Robb, Liam Watts.
St Helens 21-Man Squad: Jack Welsby, Mark Percival, Jon Bennison, Johnny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Alex Walmsley, Matty Lees, Sione Mata’utia, Morgan Knowles, Joey Lussick, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Curtis Sironen, Jake Wingfield, Dan Norman, Ben Davies, Sam Royle, Konrad Hurrell, Lewis Baxter, Tee Ritson, George Delaney.
Probably shoot myself in the foot with this one, but this is one of the only true bankers of the weekend for me. I can’t think of any outcome that doesn’t have St Helens winning this by a country mile. I’ll reword a quote from Phil Gould here, Saints should be able to declare at half time. Saints start their season on the back of what was one of the greatest nights in their illustrious history, winning the World Club Challenge down in the land of Oz against the mighty Penrith Panthers.
As for Tigers, they did show some real bottle and fight to come from behind at Hull FC, but it was too little too late for them and they ended up losing out by a couple of points. Saints will be too strong in both attack and defence for this Tigers side. This will be the biggest win of the weekend as Saints win comfortably to start the defence of their crown.
Prediction: St Helens by 24 points
