St Helens face up against Huddersfield at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday night in round eight of Super League. Both sides lost in round seven to Salford and Castleford respectively, two of the most exciting teams in this year’s competition. Keiron Cunningham and Rick Stone will look to guide their clubs to victoryย on Friday night.
Last Time Out
St Helens came into round seven after two successive wins against Catalans in round five and winless Warrington in the sixth round, but could not overcome a Salford side who claimed a third victory in a row. Red Devils half-back Michael Dobson claimed a brace of tries and four conversions as the hosts won 22-14.
Huddersfield suffered another damaging defeat in the latest round as they were humiliated 56-12 by free-scoring Castleford. The Giants were solid in the first half as Castleford took a slender 16-4 lead into the break. But Stone’s men fell apart in the second period as Luke Gale and Joel Monaghan both ended up with hat-tricks.
Key Battle
Wing play could be crucial in Friday’s fixture and both clubs have potential out wide – Saints winger Adam Swift has scored three tries in his last three matches for Keiron Cunningham’s men while opposite number Jermaine McGillvary has five scores for the season.
St Helens prop Alex Walmsley is the top metre maker in this year’s Super League with 1033 metres made so far. His bruising stints from the bench have seen him rack up three tries for the campaign, including one against Salford in last week’s defeat at the AJ Bell.
Prediction
St Helens have home advantage in this fixture which could serve them well, and Huddersfield’s rotten form has seen them go without victory for five games.ย St Helens by 14.
Squads
St Helens
Lomax, Makinson, Morgan, Percival, Swift, Fages, Smith, Walmsley, Amor, Wilkin, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dogulas, Walker, Lee, Peyroux, Richards, Knowles, Fleming, Taia
Huddersfield
McGillvary, Cudjoe, Gaskell, Murphy, Brough, Rapira, Hinchcliffe, Wakeman, Ferguson, Leeming, Ikahihifo, Roberts, Ta’ai, Clough, Mason, Dickinson, S Wood, McIntosh, Mellor
