XIII Oceans

The second round of games is always interesting because even more than the first week there can be scramble to register a first win before any sort of losing mentality manifests itself.  This week will leave us with at least two sides still waiting to claim their first win of the season and possibly four with perfect records.  Read on…

Saints v Warrington
Talk about setting one up over the plate for the away team for a game about which they’d probably all each give their sixth finger to win.  It’s two prop forwards down for Saints which evens things up in the pack and with the Bulls, Wakefield and Hull in the coming weeks asking Graham and Fozzard to do over 60 minutes each alongside a second rower may not be an option for Daniel Anderson this week.  The week’s headline game just got bigger.  Missing the two props pulls both sides closer and restricts the advantage that the Saints pack usually carries into this game.  Last week Adrian Morley picked his time to give his side good momentum and he will need to perform at his best to give the backs field position in the Saints half.  Warrington can’t afford to be throwing the ball around in their own half against a defence like Saints’ so the contributions of Morley and his companions in the pack will be equally as critical as the service that the backs get from Monoghan and, occasionally, Briers.  For Saints, you expect the Warrington defence to give up yardage and points so it’s not doom and gloom, however it is time for the defence to hold its ground, contain this potentially devastating opposition threequarter line and pepper Chris Bridge like crazy with bombs if he turns up at full back.  Saints by 6.

Wakefield v Leeds
The team with the hardest set of opening fixtures (each of The Big Three in the first four weeks) has already taken two points more than they could seriously have anticipated last weekend and now continue their quest for West Yorkshire domination.  A great result last week should mean that there is another chance of an upset here, sadly for the Wildcats they haven’t won at home against Leeds since they came into Super League and I’m going to have to go with that telling statistic.  Leeds by 10.

Wigoon v Castleford
Victory here will see the best bet for this year’s team-most-likely-to-break-into-The-Big-Three make their best start to a season since 2001, so I’m told anyway.  In that year Frank Endacott was sacked just a few months later in May so defeat might be a preferable option to a promising beginning for Brian Noble.  Castleford will hold no fears for a side that rattled up nearly fifty points away from home and they must be anticipating an explosion of points again on Friday, just like in ‘the good old days’ last century.  Cas are not completely out of this game though, over the past three years Wigoon have been vulnerable to inconsistency, poor handling and defensive lapses, however one thing that I think we’ve learned about Noble is how he builds his teams on confidence and last week’s Get Out Of Jail Card will have served his team well in their mindset for this.  Wigoon by 16.

Bradford v Huddersfield
Like Wakefield, Huddersfield are having a tough time with the draw in the first two weeks, facing a Leeds side with a game already under their belt when a fresh Leeds side at your own place could have been a shock opening win any other year.  This week it’s a trip to Bradford and one of their unhappiest hunting grounds when the Bulls should still really be smarting from defeat at Wakefield.  It’s not all bad news for Sharp’s men with Castleford next week so I think that they should use Saturday’s televised game to try and build on last week’s second half performance.  Bulls by 10.

Catalans v Hull KR
Anybody fancy a 10k plus crowd for this?  Great opening match for the Dragons against the team that’s pushed one and beaten the other Grand Finalist from last year.  How can you not fail to get excited by this impending visit, complete with a migration of various stages of human evolution supporting them.  If either side has aspirations of finishing in a playoff position this is the kind of match that they’d be targetting as an achievable win.  Catalans will be hoping to improve on their home season form of the past two years, which has seen them pull off some cracking wins, similarly for Hull KR this is one of those trips that they can avoid going home with a loss (bearing in mind the result last year).  Both teams I think would be happy with the start that they’ve made although I’m not sure who would be more disappointed if they lost this one.  Both teams have the ability to promote the ball to a standard that is higher than some of the more fancied sides in the competiton and though Hull KR have some form behind them I think you have to go with the home team who did well to spoil Castleford’s party last week.  Dragons by 4.

Hull v Harlequins
This week’s Sunday shopper alternative becomes the first real coin flip of the round although home form should secure Hull the points.  Quins threw away the two points from a winning position last week whilst Hull cough, spluttered and put some effort in with little in the way of creativity or imagination which makes me think that Harlequins can open their account here.  With Wigoon visiting next week, a side that’s done relatively well over at the KC, trips to Huddersfield and Saints following that a loss in this game could put Hull amongst the early season cellar dwellers.  All thee of those matches will require a lot of work and none guarantee even a sniff of return and whilst Wakefield at home after those three is two points you fancy Hull to pick up I don’t think they’d want to be going into that match win no points on the board, particularly with the Good Friday Smackdown a week later.  There’s a lot of pressure on Hull to get back up there with The Big Three and the side they had out last week should be able to squeeze out the two points against a side that last week leaked 47 points at home to against one ten minute prop.  Hull by 8.

Last week predictions:
Warrington by 12 (Won by 12!!)
Tigers by 2 (lost by 7)
Wigoon by 6 (won by 19)
Leeds by 8 (won by 20)
Saints by 4 (lost by 2)
Bulls by 10 (lost by 2)

A 50% success rate so heads/tails it is again this week.