It’s semi-final time in the Super League! Tonight we’ll find out if Hull KR or Warrington will be the first to stake their claim at a shot at glory, and tomorrow we’ll find out who will be standing in-between them and the Super League trophy inside the Theatre of Dreams.

Warrington will go into tonight’s game off the back of a pulse-pounding eliminator last week at St Helens, which is sure to have left many bruised bodies. This hasn’t reflected onto their 21-man squad, however, as Sam Burgess has been able to name an unchanged team for the do-or-die clash at Craven Park.

Rovers, on the other hand, will go into tonight’s clash with a set of fresh legs, after their second-place finish ensured them a week off last week. They will, however, be without talismanic captain Elliot Minchella, whose second appeal before an independent tribunal earlier in the week was turned down. In more positive news, however, Kelepi Tanginoa has been deemed fit enough to be able to rejoin the squad for tonight’s clash.

Although they are sure to miss their captain, Hull KR are not a side who have shown to be lacking in depth, and they will be hoping to translate their relative freshness into victory tonight.

The rugby league world collectively held its breath during last week’s eliminator between the Salford Red Devils and the Leigh Leopards, as Leigh winger Josh Charnley took an awkward fall right onto his head and neck. Luckily, the prolific try-scorer didn’t sustain any serious injuries and was discharged from the hospital in the early hours of the following day, he will, however, miss the Leopards’ game against Wigan due to Super League’s concussion policy, a fate shared by his teammate Frankie Halton, who failed a HIA last week.

The Leopards will go into their semi-final clash against table-topping Wigan as ranked underdogs, but if the last year or two has been anything to go by, it’s evident that that’s a tag they bask in, and Wigan would be foolish to write them off, with or without their influential winger Charnley.

Wigan, conversely, have everything to lose going into this game, going in as favourites, and league leaders as they are, and with Matt Peet naming an unchanged 21-man squad from the side that trounced an under-strength Salford team two weeks ago, it’s hard to bet against them, although I think anyone envisaging a Wigan walkover is only fooling themselves.

Nathan’s Predictions:

Hull KR 24 – Warrington Wolves 16

Wigan Warriors 20 – Leigh Leopards 18

Written by Nathan Major-Kershaw (Site editor & Hull KR fan)