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 24 – York Knights 36 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 1)
• Hull KR 26 – Hull FC 12 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Leigh Leopards 24 – Warrington Wolves 6 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 0)
• Catalans Dragons 18 – Toulouse Olympique XIII 60 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 0)
• Wakefield Trinity 48 – Castleford Tigers 6 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 1)
• Leeds Rhinos 50 – Bradford Bulls 16 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 1)
• Wigan Warriors 16 – St Helens 14 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 2)

Current Score: Nathan 137 – Ian 142

It was a Magic Weekend of two halves for your intrepid predictors. We only got one correctly predicted winner between us, that being me correctly guessing that Rovers would beat Hull (and in other news, water continues to be wet…), but we both got all three other games wrong. The second day saved us, as we both had a 100% record for Sunday, leaving the scores closer than they have been for weeks. Once again, Nathan’s takes are in a normal font, and Ian’s are in bold.

Hull fans will be very worried once again that I have backed their team to win (for the uninitiated, whenever I predict Hull to win, they tend to lose), and indeed, York are coming into Thursday’s game on the back of winning two on the bounce for the first time this year. However, their most recent win came over a dismal Huddersfield side, and should by no means be used as a yardstick. Hull showed a lot of fight against Hull Kr at Everton, and that fight should be too much for the battling Knights.

I’m backing the Airlie Birds, unsurprisingly I think, against the in-form Knights just because I have seen enough from them in recent weeks that says they can, indeed should, deal with a gutsy York outfit. A lot will depend on Hull’s start. If they start aggressively and get points on the board, I think York will struggle to reel them back. If York starts well, it could be a difficult assignment for Andy Last’s side. However, I think this is just the sort of game that suits the Black & Whites right now after the intensity of games against the champions and the Challenge Cup holders, respectively.

Speaking of the dismal Huddersfield side, they have a home clash against the Bradford Bulls to look forward to on Friday night. While Bradford has by no means pulled up any trees, it’s still hard to see where the Giants pick up their next win. That promising performance against Wakefield seems like a million years ago, rather than last week. Because of this, I’m backing Kurt Haggerty’s men to register their first win on the road this season.

I think the Giants get the job done for Jim Lennihan this time, but only just. Obviously, they were well and truly cleaned out by York at Magic, but the previous week they were so close to beating Wakefield away, and I think a performance like that just gets them over the top of Kurt Haggerty’s Bulls, especially when they are playing at home. Once again, much will depend on the start from both teams, because early points breed confidence for both sides, but you could also be forgiven for thinking that the important stat in this game is who makes the least mistakes, and who is best at punishing said mistakes.

Wigan may have players missing (and indeed lost another yesterday, I’m wishing Nathan Lowe a speedy recovery), but I think we’re witnessing the start of a Warrington capitulation, similar to the one experienced by Sam Burgess’ men last season. They were a shambles against Leigh this past weekend, and I don’t think Sam Burgess has the answer to Wire’s problems.

Wigan might have their injury problems again, but so do Wire, and the Challenge Cup holders just seem to have more strength in depth because of their legendary youth development, which just churns out superstars with monotonous regularity, as has been proved yet again this season. Wire were obviously made to suffer against Leigh in Liverpool and, with absolutely the best will in the world, I just can’t see past a regulation win for the home side here as they return from their considerable travels.

The clock must surely be ticking on Ryan Carr’s reign at the OneBore Stadium. It seems that for every step forward the Tigers make this season, they make a giant leap backwards. They can beat Wigan, but get thoroughly thrashed by Hull FC, and coming off a one-two punch of defeat by the York Knights and a humiliation against their nearest rivals, I can’t see an in-form Leigh side taking much pity on them.

This game could actually depend on which version of the Tigers turns up: will it be the tame, toothless side who surrendered so lamely to their closest rivals at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, or potentially the one who dismantled St. Helens recently? However, I think at the LSV, I believe the in-form Leopards are now really sniffing a playoff place, and if they’re going to be involved in them, they simply HAVE to win these sorts of games, and will also be wanting to give their points difference another important boost.

Predicting Rovers vs Wakefield is a conundrum for me. Rovers have been far from convincing, even when they’ve won, recently. However, they do have home advantage, and this makes a big difference, especially when it comes to Craven Park, if it is a raucous night. Given that the champions will also have key players returning (probably), I’m giving the edge to the Robins, but only narrowly.

Rovers have spluttered and scraped their way to a few unconvincing wins in recent weeks, but they have also struggled against higher teams, most notably at Wembley and at Headingley. A derby win is always very welcome and puts a bit more spring in the step, but they were very unconvincing, they huffed and puffed and eventually got over the top of their nearest and dearest, but in current form, if they leave it that late again, the Trin are likely to be over the hills and out of sight before Rovers actually give some evidence of their points scoring prowess.

Catalans will no doubt be wanting to put their loss against local rivals Toulouse firmly behind them this week. Unfortunately, they have to face a rampant Leeds Rhinos side, who are running away at the top of the table. There’s likely to be a marked improvement for the French outfit on home soil, but I expect a routine Rhinos victory. Although the way this season is panning out, I wouldn’t be too shocked to be proven wrong.

I expect John Cartwright to have read the riot act to the Dragons after their French Magic humiliation, so I think they will make a game of this at first against the rampant Rhinos, but ultimately they will run out of steam, and I expect Leeds to score plenty of points for the first time in I can’t remember how long on a visit to Perpignan.

In the weekend’s final game, the league’s other French side, Toulouse, will be travelling to a St Helens team who will no doubt be licking their wounds following a narrow derby defeat against bitter rivals, the Wigan Warriors. While I don’t doubt that Olympique will bring the fight to the Saints, especially in the form of the mercurial Olly Ashall-Bott, I expect St Helens will bounce back with a win here.

I think the Saints will bring Toulouse back down to earth with a bit of a bump after their massive high against Le Dracs. The start will be important because both sides are really confidence dependent, and if either gets into an early lead, they could take some stopping, as both have proved; however, they have also proved that if they start slowly, they can both be easy beats. I just think with Saints at home, that gives them a big advantage that Sylvain Houles’ side will struggle to overcome, as much as they might try.

Nathan’s Picks:

• York Knights 12 – Hull FC 22. First try scorer: James Bell
• Huddersfield Giants 10 – Bradford Bulls 32. First try scorer: Waqa Blake
• Wigan Warriors 24 – Warrington Wolves 6. First try scorer: Zach Eckersley
• Leigh Leopards 22 – Castleford Tigers 18. First try scorer: David Armstrong
• Hull KR 24 – Wakefield Trinity 20. First try scorer: Mikey Lewis
• Catalans Dragons 12 – Leeds Rhinos 36. First try scorer: Ash Handley
• St Helens 26 – Toulouse Olympique XIII 12. First try scorer: Olly Ashall-Bott

Ian’s Picks:

• York Knights 12 – Hull FC 28. First try scorer: Lewis Martin
• Huddersfield Giants 20 – Bradford Bulls 14. First try scorer: Connor Wrench
• Wigan Warriors 30 – Warrington Wolves 12. First try scorer: Jake Wardle
• Leigh Leopards 40 – Castleford Tigers 10. First try scorer: Umyla Hanley
• Hull KR 16 – Wakefield Trinity 28. First try scorer: Tom Johnstone
• Catalans Dragons 14 – Leeds Rhinos 38. First try scorer: Brodie Croft
• St Helens 32 – Toulouse Olympique XIII 12. First try scorer: Curtis Sironen

Written by Nathan Major (Site editor & Hull KR fan) and Ian Judson (Site contributor & Hull FC fan)