Catalans Dragons travel to Wakefield to attempt to continue their climb up the ladder, whilst Chris Chester’s side will look to bounce back from a narrow defeat to table toppers St Helens. Here’s everything you need to know:
SQUAD NEWS
Wakefield Trinity
Just the one change has been made by Wakefield, who were unfortunate to fall to a 34-30 loss at the Totally Wicked Stadium last time out. James Batchelor is unavailable due to a head knock, and he is replaced by Justin Horo, who could come up against his former club.
Wakefield have won three of their last five games, beating Widnes twice and cruising past Wigan, with their only losses coming against high-flying Saints and an in-form Warrington outfit.
Wakefield Trinity 19-man squad:ย Chris Annakin, Tinirau Arona, Matty Ashurst, Mason Caton-Brown, Anthony England, David Fifita, Liam Finn, Ryan Hampshire, Keegan Hirst, Justin Horo, Tom Johnstone, Ben Jones-Bishop, Max Jowitt, Reece Lyne, Jacob Miller, Pauli Pauli, Tyler Randell, Bill Tupou, Kyle Wood.
Catalans Dragons
Head coach Steve McNamara has made just one change to the side that impressively defeated Castleford Tigers 44-16, with Sam Moa returning from a two-match suspension for dangerous contact to take the place of Vincent Duport.
Catalans have quickly climbed the Super League table after a huge swing in form and now sit 7th, just two-points behind Wakefield Trinity, adding extra importance to the outcome of Saturday’s meeting.
Catalans Dragons 19-man squad: David Mead, Brayden Wiliame, Fouad Yaha, Samisoni Langi, Rรฉmi Casty, Sam Moa, Louis Anderson, Benjamin Garcia, Greg Bird, Julian Bousquet, Mika Simon, Jason Baitieri, Michael McIlorum, Lewis Tierney, Benjamin Jullien, Tony Gigot, Mickael Goudenmand, Josh Drinkwater, Kenny Edwards.
HEAD TO HEAD
The two sides last met back in round three, when Wakefield Trinity claimed the two-points in Perpignan with a hard-fought 16-14 victory. Reece Lyne, Tom Johnstone and David Fifita crossed for Wakefield as they made it three wins from three to start the season.
The Dragons haven’t beaten Wakefield since 2016, losing the last three encounters, but a win this time would see the French side move one step closer to securing a Super 8’s spot.
KEY BATTLE- Josh Drinkwater vs Jacob Miller
Mid-season recruit Josh Drinkwater has arguably been one of the signings of the season and his influential style of play has seen the Catalans go from potential relegation battlers after a slow start to the 2018 campaign to a side that look dangerous and know how to win games.
Meanwhile, leading the way in try-assists for Wakefield is non-other than their star playmaker Jacob Miller, who shone last week and scored a brilliant try as his team almost staged an unlikely second half comeback to beat St. Helens.
Another performance like that from the Australian would give Trinity a huge boost as they look to extend the gap over Saturday’s opponents to four points and avoid being dragged back into the scrap to avoid the Qualifiers.
THE IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date: Saturday 7th July
Venue: The Mobile Rocket Stadium
Kick-off: 18:30
Referee:ย Ben Thaler
WHO WILL WIN?
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