St Helens will be looking to make history by winning the League by the largest ever margin as they take on Huddersfield, who need a win to confirm survival.
TEAM FORM GUIDE
St Helens
Saints have the opportunity to complete a perfect home record as they have won all of their 13 games at home so far this season. Last week they got their season back on track after losing the Challenge Cup Final with a dogged defensive display in a 4-0 win over Castleford.
Huddersfield Giants
Despite a win against Hull FC last weekend, the Giants have not yet confirmed survival. A win against St Helens would make it almost certain that they would stay up though. Like many sides this season, they have been unable to perform consistently, picking up points here and there.
SQUAD NEWS
St Helens
Two changes have been made to their 19-man squad from last week. Dominique Peyroux returns after picking up a knock at Wembley while Lachlan Coote also returns after missing out last week due to concussion. Joseph Paulo and Jack Welsby make way for the pair.
St Helens 19-man squad: 1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Regan Grace, 6. Theo Fages, 7. Danny Richardson, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Luke Thompson, 11. Zeb Taia, 13. LMS, 15. Morgan Knowles, 16. Kyle Amor, 17. Dom Peyroux, 20. Jack Ashworth, 22. James Bentley, 23. Lachlan Coote, 24. Matty Costello
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Just like his Australian counterpart, Simon Woolford also makes two changes to his side. Matt Frawley picked up a knock during an impressive display last week against Hull while Aaron Murphy drops out of the squad. They are replaced by Adam Walne and Tom Holmes.
Huddersfield Giants 19-man squad: 1. Darnell McIntosh, 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 6. Lee Gaskell, 8. Paul Clough, 9. Kruise Leeming, 10. Suaia Matagi, 12. Alex Mellor, 13. Michael Lawrence, 14. Adam O’Brien, 17. Ukuma Ta’ai, 20. Jake Wardle, 24. Tom Holmes, 27. Adam Walne, 26. Sebastine Ikahihifo, 29. Sam Hewitt, 31. Louis Senior, 30. Jon Luke Kirby, 36. Oliver Wilson, 38. Chester Butler
HEAD TO HEAD
This will be the fourth meeting between the sides this season. The two previous league games were comfortable victories for St Helens as they beat them 40-12 in March at John Smith’s Stadium and then 38-2 in the reverse fixture a couple of months ago. They did however gave them a game in the Challenge Cup as St Helens scraped past the Giants 22-16 on their way to Wembley.
KEY BATTLE
Tommy Makinson (St Helens) v Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants)
Both of these players were named in the Great Britain training squad earlier this week. That was no surprise for Makinson who has been the league’s in form winger this year and set alight the international stage last year against New Zealand. Makinson is known for his finishing abilities but in the last couple of seasons it has been his kick returns which has been the strongest part of his game. Makinson is the top metre maker this year with 3549 metres, just 15 in front of Jackson Hastings while he is third in the try scoring charts with 19.
McGillvary could probably count himself lucky to be named in the train on squad but probably deserves to be in there due to his previous performances at international level. He has not quite hit the heights of previous seasons but he still has a decent scoring record as he has so far scored 16 tries in a poor Huddersfield outfit. He has however made a whopping 700 metres less than Makinson.
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date: 6/9/19
Venue: Totally Wicked Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
WHO WILL WIN?
St Helens will have far too much quality and will want to go into the play-offs on the back of strong performances. St Helens by 20.
