Super League Betting: Back a narrow St Helens win in the Friday TV clash

Raj Bains
24 March 2017

Saints will be hoping England full-back Jonny Lomax has another strong game against Wire

Join

View market

Twitter

Facebook

After a fantastic game between Wakefield and Leigh to open the round, Friday night is jam packed full of enticing fixtures. Rugby League columnist Raj Bains takes us through the best of Round Six...

"Warrington have a shocking away record at St Helens, and the home side will have their tails up after winning last time out. Kieron Cunningham will know back-to-back wins against two big sides will go someway to silencing his doubters, so backing the home side to bring it home shouldn’t send you far wrong."

St Helens to beat Warrington Wolves by 1-6pts @ 4/1

Having pushed Wakefield all the way, Leigh will be gravely disappointed that they couldn't see through their half-time advantage to secure their first away win of the season. Both club have been widely tipped to struggle this season, but on current form, neither looks all that bad. With attack minded coaches and a squad who're comfortable putting in the extra work needed to get results out of games where they're seen as the underdog, both sides can take heart and use their early season form to pull them as far away from the bottom four as possible.

That said, however, with big clubs like Saints and Warrington struggling towards the wrong end of the competition, there's every chance that the table will undergo some serious changes before the conclusion of the regular season rolls around. With the two so-called crisis clubs meeting in tonight's televised fixture, it's a chance for one of them to get their season properly underway, while both teams will know a loss will only amplify the pressure already mounting, with rumours regarding the future of both coaches having circulated in the press.

St Helens vs Warrington Wolves
Friday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports 2

The battle of the two problem sides this season, Warrington have fallen off a cliff since beating Brisbane in the World Club Series, failing to win a game since. Still without a single point to their name in the league, questions are being asked of coach Tony Smith, who knows that this sort of form won't be tolerated by the fans or by the club for that much longer. Warrington are a team with title aspirations, but right now, it's relegation that they should be more worried about.

Saints, meanwhile, have steadied their ship a little better than Wire have. A big win away in Catalan last week in the face of huge pressure and an expected home victory will have done their confidence the world of good. Not a bad side, Saints are just a little too workmanlike and lethargic at the moment, lacking any real injection of creativity or spark on a regular basis, which has definitely been missing.

Warrington have a shocking away record at St Helens, and the home side will have their tails up after winning last time out. Kieron Cunningham will know back-to-back wins against two big sides will go someway to silencing his doubters, so backing the home side to bring it home shouldn't send you far wrong.

Huddersfield Giants vs Leeds Rhinos
Friday, 20:00

Since their humbling at the hands of Castleford, it's been onwards and upwards for Leeds, who've heeded a warning from the boardroom and quickly got their act together. Not nearly as smooth or polished as we've come to expect from the seven times champion club, they're finding a way to be effective without really hitting their highest gear, which is a decent enough trick if you can manage it. Still within touching distance of the top places despite not having a fully fit squad to choose from, this is a very different Rhinos side to the one we saw slump in to the bottom four last season.

Huddersfield, meanwhile, have no consistency whatsoever. While they can seem a cohesive unit one minute, winning matches, putting together impressive attacking moves and defending efficiently, the next moment they're failing to do the basics and having to field questions about their star half-back apparently being on the brink of the sack. They need to avoid distractions and concentrate on getting their rugby right, because if not, it could be another season where they flirt with relegation.

While the Giants have a good record against Leeds recently, the Rhinos appear to be the side with the better backbone at the moment. It'll likely be a close run thing - most of these derbies are - but backing the Rhinos seems to be sensible option.

Wigan Warriors vs Hull FC
Friday, 20:00

Having drawn with Huddersfield at home last time out, Wigan will know that Hull will be coming for blood. The reigning champions are struggling for numbers, but their performance levels haven't tailed off that drastically, in fairness. The strength of their academy set up is shining through when most needed, and with a point separated them at the top of the league from Castleford chasing one place back, they'll want to keep ahead for as long as possible, no matter who they're having to cobble together and get on the field.

Hull though have suddenly found their sweet spot again. The halfback combination of Sneyd and Kelly is working wonders, while their backline is getting back towards the heights we experienced last season, when they played there way to a more than deserved Challenge Cup triumph. There's arguably no better time to be playing Wigan away, but the Warriors should never be taken lightly.

On paper, this should be a Hull win - but in front of their home fans, you wouldn't be shocked if Wigan still managed to find a way.