Salford Red Devils host Wigan Warriors at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night. Wigan come into this game on the back of 2 confidence boosting wins against Leeds and Castleford. Salford have also won their last 2 games against Widnes and in-form Wakefield.
LAST TIME OUT
Salford go into this game on the back of a superb 38-8 victory over in-form Wakefield Wildcats. Salford ran in a total of 7 tries and showed some excellent defence to keep Wakefield down to a single figure score. It was a tight opening half, which saw Salford just edge 10-4. However, with Wakefield having 2 men sin-binned just before the half, this gave Salford the advantage going into the second half as Wakefield started with 11 men. They took advantage by scoring 3 tries in 5 minutes to completely overpower Wakefield and put the game to bed early on, which they did.
Wigan go into this game on the back of a tough 33-26 win away at Castleford Tigers. Wigan narrowly led 14-12 at halftime through tries from Charnley and Tomkins, and a Smith penalty. The second half was much better for Wigan early on as they ran in 2 quick tries and another penalty goal to stretch their lead to 28-14. Wigan looked well in control of the game, but somehow gave Castleford a way back in as they scored a great try through Webster. Wigan looked nervy from here, but somehow managed to score a try out of nowhere to wrap the game up and gain a much needed victory for Shaun Wane’s men.
KEY BATTLES
The halfback pairing of Dobson and Sau have been really influential for Salford in recent weeks, providing more of an attacking prowess and looking more threatening, especially near the opponents line. On the other side, Smith and Williams have also started to gain more confidence in recent weeks. So it’ll be interesting to see how both teams come out and play.
Last week, Wigan’s forwards where key in the result, proving to be a driving force (literally) on the field. They helped a Wigan side who are not the biggest in the league, but with sheer strength and determination pushed there way up field and started to create more space for the backs to play with. Salford’s Ryan Lannon had a great game last week, in which he scored 2 tries. For a guy thats so big, he can shift and his quick feet scares the defence.
Salford showed a huge improvement in their defence in recent weeks. Coach Ian Watson praised the defensive efforts of his lads, especially in the second half. Wigan have struggled with their defence this season. It’s not helped them with missing a lot of key personnel, however, now they have got near enough a full strength squad back, you will start to see a more solid Wigan outfit.
PREDICTION
Wigan fought hard last week to beat a great Castleford side in what was a much needed win for the Warriors. While Salford are in great form of late, I can’t see anything but a Wigan Warriors victory on Friday night.
Wigan Warriors by 10.
SQUADS
Salford Red Devils 19-man Squad: Jake Bibby, Justin Carney, Michael Dobson, Mark Flanagan, George Griffin, Weller Hauraki, Josh Jones, Phil Joseph, Craig Kopczak, Olli Krasniqi, Ryan Lannon, Rob Lui, Ben Murdoch, Gareth O’Brien, Junior Sa’u, Logan Tomkins, Daniel Vidot, Jordan Walne, Adam Walne.
Wigan Warriors 19-man Squad: John Bateman, Joe Bretherton, Greg Burke, Josh Charnley, Dom Crosby, Ben Flower, Oliver Gildart, Willie Isa, Dom Manfredi, Lee Mossop, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Matty Smith, Ryan Sutton, Taulima Tautai, Lewis Tierney, Joel Tomkins, Sam Tomkins, George Williams.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Greg Hewer
Venue: AJ Bell Stadium, Salford
Date/Time: Friday 3rd June 2016 – 20:00pm GMT
