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 Round’s Results:

• Huddersfield Giants 18 – St Helens 26 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Wakefield Trinity 58 – Catalans Dragons 10 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 2)
• Wigan Warriors 24 – Leeds Rhinos 4 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 0)
• York Knights 18 – Castleford Tigers 24 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Toulouse Olympique XIII 16 – Warrington Wolves 24 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Leigh Leopards 16 – Hull KR 20 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Bradford Bulls 16 – Hull FC 14 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 1)

Current Score: Nathan 85 – Ian 94

It was not a particularly high-scoring week this week for either of us. We’ve had a tendency in the past weeks to pick up bonus points for try scorers, but our aim was off more often than not in round eleven. Hull fans will once again be cursing my name (more than usual, that is) after Nathan’s curse struck once again. I predict them to win, and they lose, lesson learned, never rely on Hull FC.

The round kicked off on Thursday night at Huddersfield as the struggling Giants welcomed high-flying St Helens to the Accu Stadium. Liam Finn would have been hoping for a victorious final bow in charge prior to new head coach Jim Lenihan’s arrival this week, but it was not to be, despite the Giants mounting a spirited second-half comeback. The game looked finished at half-time when St Helens went into the sheds with a 24-0 lead; however, the Giants had other ideas. The Giants ran in two converted tries, worrying the Saints enough to take two points on offer from a penalty to give themselves a better lead. Huddersfield scored again in the final five minutes, but it proved to be a consolation, as the game ended 26-18 to the Saints.

Friday night saw two games, as Wakefield Trinity entertained the Catalans Dragons at Belle Vue, while over in Wigan, the Warriors hosted the Leeds Rhinos in a mouthwatering clash of two teams who will be hoping to duke it out for the title come the end of the season. Both were games that could have realistically been close-run affairs, but neither ended up being that way. Firstly, Wakefield ran riot in West Yorkshire, scoring fifty-eight unanswered points after going 10-0 down to the Dragons, with forty-eight points scored in the second half to beat the Dragons 58-10. Meanwhile, over in Lancashire, Wigan ran out comfortable 24-4 winners over a tepid Leeds Rhinos side, who were well short of their best. The Warriors continue their uptick in form at just the right time, with two blockbuster encounters with Hull KR to come in the coming weeks.

Speaking of the Robins, they were part of a triple-header of Super League action on Saturday afternoon, travelling to Wigan’s close neighbours, the Leigh Leopards. Much like the Huddersfield-Saints game on Thursday night, it was a tale of two halves. The reigning champions looked to be cruising at half-time with a comfortable 20-6 lead over the Leopards, but two back-to-back tries deep into the second half set up a nail-biting conclusion to the game, with Rovers hanging on by their fingertips (and with help from a try-saving Joe Burgess tackle on Lachlan Lam) to seal a 20-16 victory.

Two more games took place on Saturday, as York welcomed fellow strugglers the Castleford Tigers to the LNER Community Stadium, and Warrington travelled to the South of France to face Toulouse Olympique. Both promoted teams went down to defeats in the end, but both gave creditable performances, and will take positives from the game. York ran Castleford close but came up short, with the Tigers claiming a 24-18 win in North Yorkshire, and Warrington bounced back from their Challenge Cup semi-final exit with a 24-16 win at Toulouse.

Finally, to wrap up round eleven, we turn our focus to Odsal, as the Bradford Bulls faced Hull FC. Two weeks removed from defeat at the hands of Toulouse Olympique, Hull were very much in this (admittedly low-quality all-round) contest. Bradford were bolstered by the return of five first-team players from injury, with one of whom, Jayden Okunbor, taking home the man of the match. The game went right down to the wire and was decided by the boot of Zak Hardaker, who missed the touchline conversion following a Davy Litten try to hand Bradford a 16-14 victory.

Nathan’s Picks:

• Hull KR 22 – Wigan Warriors 12. First try scorer: Oliver Gildart
• Leeds Rhinos 32 – Huddersfield Giants 18. First try scorer: Maika Sivo
• Leigh Leopards 32 – Hull FC 12. First try scorer: Josh Charnley
• Castleford Tigers 10 – St Helens 30. First try scorer: Harry Robertson
• Toulouse Olympique XIII 6 – Wakefield Trinity 42. First try scorer: Jake Trueman
• York Knights 24 – Catalans Dragons 10. First try scorer: David Nofoaluma
• Warrington Wolves 36 – Bradford Bulls 12. First try scorer: Marc Sneyd

Ian’s Picks:

• Hull KR 10 – Wigan Warriors 30. First try scorer: Tom Forber
• Leeds Rhinos 42 – Huddersfield Giants 10. First try scorer: Ash Handley
• Leigh Leopards 28 – Hull FC 12. First try scorer: Harvey Barron
• Castleford Tigers 12 – St Helens 32. First try scorer: Daryl Clark
• Toulouse Olympique XIII 6 – Wakefield Trinity 36. First try scorer: Mason Lino
• York Knights 24 – Catalans Dragons 18. First try scorer: Cody Hunter
• Warrington Wolves 30 – Bradford Bulls 12. First try scorer: Danny Walker

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