There are four sides looking to follow up cup wins with league points, as well as a derby with plenty at stake…
Salford Red Devils vs St Helens (Thu, 7:45pm)
Thursday night sees two of last week’s big winners in Super League go head-to-head.
Salford should be confident after a 38-4 win over Wakefield which means they have now won four of their six home games so far this season.
Meanwhile St Helens dispatched Huddersfield with a brutal 66-4 scoreline, keeping them two points clear of Wigan at the top of the table.
Saints shouldn’t underestimate their hosts, as Wakefield certainly did, but they should still have far too much class and run out comfortable winners.
Prediction: Salford Red Devils 8-36 St Helens
Castleford Tigers vs Wakefield Trinity (Fri, 7:45pm)
Both sides lost last Friday, but it is arguably Wakefield who have far more to prove in this huge West Yorkshire derby.
Chris Chester accused his players of waving the “white flag” at Salford, offering no excuses for what he was right to describe as a terrible performance. They’ve lost six of their last seven now, slipping to eighth in the table.
Castleford were soundly beaten by Wigan, but hardly disgraced themselves in their performance. It’s not clicking quite like last season but they’re still in a decent position.
Trinity will need a huge shift in attitude to get anything from the Jungle. They should be up for a derby, but I think Cas will just be too strong.
Prediction: Castleford Tigers 25-18 Wakefield Trinity
Warrington Wolves vs Huddersfield Giants (Fri, 7:45pm)
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Warrington have won their last seven; Huddersfield are winless in seven. That says pretty much everything about the two sides ahead of this one.
Last week I thought the challenge for the Giants would be keeping the score down. I said they would concede 52, and as it turned out that was a pretty generous prediction, which says just about everything about their current state.
They lack not only quality but desire, and I don’t think we’ll see that from them until there is a new coach in place for the players to impress.
Warrington continue to quietly rack the wins up, although they’ve got a huge set of fixtures coming up. Two points is a must from this one then, and they shouldn’t have any problems.
Prediction: Warrington Wolves 42-10 Huddersfield Giants
Read our predictions for the Wigan, Hull FC and Leeds game on the next page!
