XIII Oceans

Spare a thought this week for those who have to attend weddings this Friday when football is likely to be on in the local instead of Super League XIII’s top of the table clash.  Let’s just hope there’s SKY on the hotel bedroom telly instead.

Leeds v Saints
Game of the round opens up the weekend’s action as first plays host to second in an eagerly anticipated contest of the team’s that have been at the forefront of the competition for the last three years.  During that time there has been a gradual shift from one power base to the other as Leeds Grand Final crescendo moved them to the top of the pile without criticism.  The champions had become champions on merit and not by default, reflecting a teamwork ethic that had enabled them to manhandle the favourites in that game and begin their own overdue era of dominance.  Halfway through the season and there’s reason to believe that this new era is one that can be sustained with youngsters coming through the Leeds ranks that appear to have more to them than their predecessors.  Is that relevant to Friday’s game?  To an extent it’s looking that way with the Leeds bench looking like it’s going to be a lot stronger than the visitors, which is important because you know for both these teams that a good portion of their strength comes from the interchanges.  Saints will be looking to a step up from Bryn Hargreaves with Fa’asavalu a doubt and that’s a lot to ask.  At Bradford, earlier in the season, the visitors overcame front row absences so there is capacity in the side to win, however that wasn’t against a defence as good as Leeds.  This is game of the round because it’s first against second but I’m not sure it’s going to shape us as good as recent Leeds-Saints encounters have.  Leeds by 8.

Catalans Dragons v Warrington
In any other week this would probably be my selection of game of the week as third welcomes fourth with both teams registering good home wins last time out.  By beating the Warriors the Dragons put five points between themselves and the team below them although it’s likely that the Warriors will claw back two points with their game in hand.  Nevertheless, nobody outside of Michael Potter would have suggested that the French side would have been in this position when predicting, either at the start of the year or a couple of years ago, when the franchise first came to life.  Victory at home against Warrington gives the Dragons hope of holding onto the top two with tricky away trips to Wakefield and Hull to follow, whereas a win for the Wolves builds momentum for Lowes’ appointment and keeps them in the battle for third.   Given that there was another Numberwang epic in Perpignan last week the chances have to be good for the Wolves this week with their own defence tightening up and though Catalans usually don’t break they was a lot of bend in there.  Common sense says that consistency lies with the Dragons, however I’m going to go with the momentum and confidence that goes with a couple of quick wins and a new coach to further confirm that this isn’t a set of half-arsed players, just poorly coached ones.  Wolves by 4.

Hull KR v Wakefield
Saturday night’s SKY dust-up looks to be everything that the weekend’s second televised game should be.  Two teams battling for a playoff spot with the homers having more on the line that the visitor.  Here this means that a Wakefield win pushes Rovers five points away from the bottom of those playoff positions.  That isn’t a nightmare scenario but given the way that Rovers started off the year it would be a disappointment at this stage.  For the Wildcats there’s more to think about than just Rovers with the Bulls and Harlequins RL sat two points behind and you’d fancy that at least one of those two will leapfrog Wakefield should results go against Kear’s men.  It was a two point game earlier this season with Wakefield holding on for the win and it’s the Wildcats that have impressed the most out of the two since then.  I don’t think they’ve improved enough to go to Rovers and go home with the win.  The intimidating atmosphere, Rovers’ solid pack, Paul Cooke’s nocturnal driving habits and the snowballing Luke Sykes For Mod campaign are a lot for Kear’s Kernels to shift aside.  Throw in an away record that says Wakefield can win away from home, providing it’s against a bottom two side, and you imagine that this will be a game of errors for the visitors.  That plays right into Paul Cooke’s murderous mind.  Rovers by 8.

Bradford v Hull
Indiscipline and poor decision making are the two main criticisms for the Bulls arising from last week, but it wasn’t a performance devoid of positives and in true coaching fashion, Steve McNamara will be heralding those as foundations for future progress.  Despite missing several regulars the Bulls more than matched Saints in parts and it wasn’t until their persistent indiscipline came to the forefront that the game went away from them.  The visit of Hull presents a testing opportunity for the Bulls and they’ll be confident of returning to winning ways even if Hull will feel there isn’t a better time to visit Odsal, especially having won there in the cup.  Much will depend on the mental fragility of the Bulls for this game.  Hull have been through their pitiful moments and are playing out their season with gay abandon and the comfort of knowing that from here on in it’s mainly preparation for next season and World Cup spots.  It’s a fascinating period for Bulls watchers which their supporters won’t be able to appreciate and it’s also a period that appears to be a true transition for the side.  It’s unusual for sides that aren’t in the top two or three in the league to register back-to-back away wins against the same side and it’s on that basis that I’m siding with the Bulls.  Fragile their mental state may be (who knows what another home defeat would do here) and fragile it may remain after this game.  Whatever the case, the Bulls can struggle here and still come up with a result, which might be crucial if the two teams above them harness victories on the road.  Bulls by 6.

Castleford v Warriors
Aside from being a place where the top two have been ambushed, The Jungle plays host to the Warriors last away game before they hit a stretch of five home games out of the next six and it’s probably the easiest away trip you can ask for this season.  I’m not sure you can say much more about this game than that.  Yes, Castleford have sprung three surprises this year and when you look at the relatively modest points for that the visitors have, you can make a case for this game being a banana skin for Brian Noble’s men.  Sadly for the Tigers that banana skin is purely metaphorical, preventing an unfair meal deal temptation for Gareth Hock that could have things swinging the Tigers way.  In many ways confrontations involving creatures like Tigers and Hock bring you back to the bare necessities of life and if you examine them you’ll find that a better side on paper usually equates to a better side on the pitch.  Warriors by 10.

Huddersfield v Harlequins RL
My run of form with Harlequins RL continues and donations have come in by the half a sixpence load to get me to tip a home win in the final game of the round.  I’m quite happy to do that usually but the Giants don’t really have the kind of form that lends itself to predicting a win for them.  Where does that leave this match-up?  It has to be Harlequins RL for this game doesn’t it?  How can anyone back against a side that’s come off the biggest win of their coach’s career?  Well let’s just hold it a moment.  We are talking about the Harlequins RL side that grabs hold of the opposition and hangs on until the mistakes fall their way, the same side that is as capable of exploding defensively as it is offensively and the same Harlequins RL that seems to play better when not at full strength.  Too much thinking about this match and you’ll end up at the same point.  Logic says Harlequins RL but league wisdom says the Giants are the exact type of underperforming goofballs that spoil the party for Brian McDermott and having folded on their trip to The Stoop earlier in the year there’s just too much going for the Spivs.  It’s a grave mistake for my Harlequins brethren if I tip them for a victory so I’m going to side with the fact that Harlequins RL haven’t won away in the league since visiting the Halliwell Jones and the Giants only lost by two at Wakefield, simple as that.  Giants by 2.

Last week’s predictions;

Saints by 10 (won by 38 )
Catalans by 1 (won by 7)
Leeds by 12 (lost by 4)
Hull by 12 (won by 26)
Wakefield by 10 (won by 2)
Wolves by 8 (won by 18 )

A good week wherein only one result against the odds making it 65-38 overall (64%).