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:

• Hull KR 28 – Warrington Wolves 34 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 2)
• Leigh Leopards 62 – Bradford Bulls 10 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Wigan Warriors 26 – Wakefield Trinity 12 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 2)
• St Helens 36 – Castleford Tigers 12 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 2)
• Hull KR 12 – Toulouse Olympique XIII 32 (Nathan – 0, Ian – 0)
• Catalans Dragons 26 – Hull FC 27 (Nathan – 1, Ian – 1)
• Warrington Wolves 34 – Huddersfield Giants 24 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 1)
• York Knights 16 – Leeds Rhinos 66 (Nathan – 2, Ian – 2)

Current Score: Nathan 209 – Ian 197

Ian is closing the gap somewhat, but with only a few weeks of the season remaining, it would take a monumental screw-up for me to throw away this lead. Still, stranger things have happened. In fact, they’ve happened quite a lot this season!

To tell you the truth, I’m dreading Thursday’s game. I’ve thought from the off that the Wigan game could be the most dangerous game of the whole crowded schedule. Going to Wigan on the back of three games in nine days was always going to be a tall order, but going there down on players, and more importantly down on confidence, could be a recipe for disaster. It pains me to say it, but I fear that the question is not of whether Wigan will win, but simply by how many.

I just don’t see any escape for Rovers in this one. This game is something of a perfect storm because rivalry has been rising and becoming more bitter across Grand Finals and Challenge Cup semi-finals and at Wembley; added to that, Rovers took all Wigan’s trophies off them last year, and now the Warriors want them back, having already bagged one. Also throw into the mix the fact that Rovers somewhat damaged Wigan’s points difference column when they put the cleaners through their kids a week before Wembley, before suffering the full force when it came to the silverware; however, Wigan will see this as a great opportunity to somewhat redress that by showing absolutely no mercy here a week before the LLS decider at AMT Headingley. Essentially, I’m expecting Wigan to do Wigan things and we all know it’s that time of the year when they are usually at their ruthless best.

The first of Friday’s games is the deadest of dead rubbers. Two teams with nothing to play for, going through the motions because they’re all already on the beach in their heads. You could flip a coin to decide the result, and it would still have the same effect. My coin landed tails, therefore, I’m going with Castleford.

I think much depends on the opening quarter and the final quarter in this game, as well as which version of each team turns up, because both can be very dangerous either to their opponents or themselves; frankly, trying to predict this game is like trying to predict what is going through Donald Trump’s mind at any given time. I am coming down just in favour of the Dragons because I saw enough in their home defeat at the weekend to suggest that they can, should they get into a lead again, actually close it out this time, but I can’t completely rule out a home win for the Tigers on their unique pitch either.

Conversely to the two teams above, Leigh do have something to play for, that being a play-off spot and the highest possible finish. Meanwhile, Huddersfield will be looking to play spoiler and carry on their much-improved form after they made Warrington sweat in the final fifteen minutes yesterday. Sadly, much like the Wolves did this weekend, I fear Leigh will have too much for them, and move one step closer to securing their play-off berth.

It seemed that the resurgence of the Giants came to a shuddering halt away to the winning team from the extra game last week and I just fancy the in-form Leopards in this because they had virtually an opposed training session against Bradford last time out and with the scent of a home semi-final in their nostrils, I expect them to have to work hard but to get the job done at the soon to be redundent Accu Stadium.

St Helens still have the fainest whiff of a chance of scraping into the play-offs, given the dismal drop in performance from my beloved Robins, and if they are to pip the current champions to the post, then a win against the league leaders is crucial. Sadly, however, for my St Helens-supporting readers, I can’t see Leeds wanting to give the Red Vee an inch in this game, as they prepare for what is sure to be a humdinger the following week against Wigan. Especially since Saints’ talisman Jackson Hastings seems certain to be sitting this, and probably the remainder of the season, out after being dismissed this past weekend.

Saints have knocked off impressive back-to-back wins, but Leeds resumed normal service at the weekend, and I believe they have comfortably too much quality to slip up again at the BrewDog Stadium. I also think a ban for Jackson Hastings, with George Whitby already missing through injury, is just a handicap too many for the fragile home side, and it is that combination of fragility and missing their usually industrious half-back and captain that leaves the recently more solid door fatally too open for the table-topping Rhinos.

Wakefield, too, have a lot to play for this weekend. After a stellar run of mid-season form saw them pushing for the League Leaders’ Shield, they have had a drop-off in form that now sees them competing with the Leigh Leopards for fourth place. Handily for the Trin, they have the visit of the York Knights this week, who are starting to look more battered and bruised as the season comes to a close, as was evidenced by their thrashing at home to Leeds yesterday. I expect another sizeable defeat away at Wakey, too.

It’s true to say the Trin have somewhat stumbled in recent weeks, so facing a rather dissected York this week is probably just the tonic they need to re-establish themselves. I was quite impressed with the grit Daryl Powell’s side showed at Wigan, and while I expect better from the Knights, I still can’t see them putting up enough of a fight to worry shaky Wakey.

Hull FC will, no doubt, be bullish after their remarkable come-from-behind win on Saturday night against Catalans, and deservedly so. That win almost certainly sees them move clear of claiming the wooden spoon for 2026. However, they do have the prospect of facing the Warrington Wolves this week, and even with tired legs in the Wolves team, there’s still a chance, however slim, that they might claim second by the end of the season, so I don’t expect them to take their foot off the accelerator anytime soon.

I think, after their return of back-to-back wins last week, that this is the game when that extra activity actually catches up with the Wolves. I’m relating this to the evidence of what happens to teams when facing a similar schedule or, if you will stick with me on this, when they have been to Vegas, as definitely evidenced by Wigan in the Challenge Cup last year, and Leeds at the MKM Stadium this year. If, and it is a not inconsiderable if, I am right about this, the Wire players could feel like they’re trying to run in treacle this week, and a more confident and certainly very pacey Hull FC could potentially take advantage of that having bagged two impressive victories in recent weeks, especially having now dispelled the myth about players who know they are leaving not bothering to play at this late, virtually pointless stage of the season, definitely enough to convince me anyway!

Rounding out the week’s fixtures, we have a lower-table clash between Toulouse and Bradford. Well, I say lower-table, but perhaps that doesn’t seem like a fair descriptor of Toulouse right now, who are more like a mid-table side, whereas Bradford are bringing up the rear. I expect TO’s momentum to continue here as they contend with a seriously patched-up Bradford side in the South of France. We know that Toulouse can score points, so with that in mind, Bradford must be looking forward to this match about as much as a trip to the dentist.

Two newly promoted sides, but therein the comparisons end given their differing situations and current form, with the Bulls having been ruthlessly exposed by Leigh, compared to the French outfit who were the ones who ruthlessly exposed the badly faltering champs to the point that their playoff place is now under some doubt. Having said that, a game between two sides who are not exactly new opponents to each other can still be somewhat questionable to call, even under current circumstances, so…

Nathan’s Picks:

• Wigan Warriors 48 – Hull KR 10. First try scorer: Liam Marshall
• Castleford Tigers 26 – Catalans Dragons 18. First try scorer: Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
• Huddersfield Giants 12 – Leigh Leopards 30. First try scorer: Umyla Hanley
• St Helens 10 – Leeds Rhinos 22. First try scorer: Ash Handley
• Wakefield Trinity 42 – York Knights 10. First try scorer: Cam Scott
• Hull FC 18 – Warrington Wolves 38. First try scorer: George Williams
• Toulouse Olympique XIII 38 – Bradford Bulls 12. First try scorer: Paul Ulberg

Ian’s Picks:

• Wigan Warriors 72 – Hull KR 8. First try scorer: Zach Eckersley
• Castleford Tigers 18 – Catalans Dragons 26. First try scorer: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
• Huddersfield Giants 20 – Leigh Leopards 32. First try scorer: Innes Senior
• St Helens 14 – Leeds Rhinos 34. First try scorer: Ash Handley
• Wakefield Trinity 38 – York Knights 10. First try scorer: Max Jowitt
• Hull FC 30 – Warrington Wolves 18. First try scorer: Harvey Barron
• Toulouse Olympique XIII 46 – Bradford Bulls 6. First try scorer: Joe Cator

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