The Rules:

• Each person predicts the results of every Super League match.
• Predicting the correct winner will get you 1 point.
• If the predictor’s scoreline has the same winning margin, then 4 points will be awarded (only if the predicted winning team is correct).
• Correctly predicting the exact score will win you an additional 5 points.
• Two bonus points will be awarded if the first try scorer is predicted correctly, whereas 1 point will be awarded if the selected player scores during the match.

Last Week’s Results:

• Wigan Warriors 23 – York Knights 22 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 2)
• Toulouse Olympique XIII 16 – St Helens 30 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 5)
• Bradford Bulls 26 – Huddersfield Giants 14 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Wakefield Trinity 18 – Leigh Leopards 14 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 1)
• Warrington Wolves 72 – Castleford Tigers 6 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Catalans Dragons 26 – Hull KR 20 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 1)
• Hull FC 24 – Leeds Rhinos 16 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 3)

Current Score: Nathan 34 – Ian 43

Oh, dear. It appears that Ian is pulling ahead in this contest, and let me tell you now, readers, it is something I will never hear the end of if he actually beats me this season, so I’m praying to the rugby league gods for a swift turnaround. Not only for my plight in this contest, but also for my team, Hull KR, whose season so far is very much like a once-dependable car breaking down and being stuck on the hard shoulder. We could very much do with a jump start sometime soon.

Round five kicked off this past Thursday at the Brick Community Stadium, as the Wigan Warriors welcomed the York Knights. The Knights have certainly shown themselves as being able to provide a few surprises so far this season, with two wins on the board and having pushed Warrington close two weeks ago. They almost provided another massive shock on Thursday, too, pushing Wigan all the way in a cracker of a game that finished 23-22 to the Warriors. In beating the Knights, Wigan extended their unbeaten start to the season to five wins from five, and are sitting pretty at the top of the table so far.

Friday night saw a triple-header of Super League action as Toulouse hosted St Helens, strugglers Huddersfield Giants travelled to the Bradford Bulls, and Wakefield Trinity entertained Leigh. In the earlier kick-off, the Saints proved too strong for Toulouse in the South of France. Going into half-time with a 28-0 lead, the game was more or less already won for the Red Vee, and a spirited second-half performance from Toulouse still never looked like it was going to worry St Helens’ healthy lead.

It was a good day for West Yorkshire sides (apart from Huddersfield) in the other two games, as Bradford and Wakefield both came away with home victories in the later kick-offs on Friday night. The Bulls extended their unbeaten start at home by beating Huddersfield Giants 26-14 in a loss that cost Luke Robinson his job, and Wakefield extended their own winning run by edging out the Leigh Leopards 18-14 at Belle Vue. As things stand, Huddersfield and Leigh occupy the bottom two of the bottom three places in the Super League table, but it is still early days.

The third occupant of the bottom three of the table is the Castleford Tigers, who turned in an abject performance on the way to a 72-6 loss away at Warrington on Saturday afternoon. The Wolves were already 32-6 up at halftime, and the floodgates well and truly opened in the second half, as the Tigers shipped forty unanswered points. Matty Ashton bagged a hat trick on his return from injury, and Kelepi Tanginoa scored four tries as the Wolves mauled the Tigers at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Meanwhile, in the South of France, Catalans and Hull KR served up another thrilling game of rugby league that went right down to the wire. The reigning Super League champions looked shaky for the first sixty minutes of the game, trailing by 20-6 with twenty minutes remaining. A pair of tries from Joe Burgess and Tom Amone, converted by Mikey Lewis, as well as a penalty goal from the 2024 Man of Steel, put the Robins back on level terms with five minutes remaining. It was Les Dracs who managed to strike the killer blow; however, following an error from Jack Broadbent, who’d just made a good break, teenage winger Lenny Marc went over for the Dragons. After Toby Sexton had duly added the extras, the Catalonians ran out 26-20 winners.

The most surprising result of the weekend was saved for last, though, as an injury-weakened Hull FC side pulled out an against-all-odds victory over the Leeds Rhinos. The Rhinos would have been hoping to bounce back following their cup elimination at the hands of Wakefield Trinity the week previously, but Hull FC stifled them for most of the game, only going into half-time 16-14 down as a result of some questionable officiating and a Jake Connor penalty. The Airlie Birds shut the Rhinos out in the second half, however, coming away with an unexpected 24-16 victory.

Nathan’s Picks:

• Castleford Tigers 10 – Bradford Bulls 24. First try scorer: Andy Ackers
• Hull KR 22 – St Helens 12. First try scorer: Joe Burgess
• York Knights 18 – Wakefield Trinity 20. First try scorer: Tom Johnstone
• Wigan Warriors 52 – Huddersfield Giants 0. First try scorer: Adam Keighran
• Leigh Leopards 24 – Toulouse Olympique XIII 16. First try scorer: Olly Ashall-Bott
• Hull FC 18 – Catalans Dragons 24. First try scorer: Charlie Staines
• Leeds Rhinos 20 – Warrington Wolves 30. First try scorer: Matty Ashton

Ian’s Picks:

• Castleford Tigers 14 – Bradford Bulls 24. First try scorer: Connor Wynne
• Hull KR 18 – St Helens 26. First try scorer: Lewis Murphy
• York Knights 18 – Wakefield Trinity 28. First try scorer: David Nofoaluma
• Wigan Warriors 90 – Huddersfield Giants 6. First try scorer: Zach Eckersley
• Leigh Leopards 24 – Toulouse Olympique XIII 12. First try scorer: Tesi Nui
• Hull FC 28 – Catalans Dragons 18. First try scorer: Lewis Martin
• Leeds Rhinos 18 – Warrington Wolves 32. First try scorer: Josh Thewlis

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