Super League - Weekend Preview by The YP's James O'Brien - video Dailymotion

Yorkshire Post

The YP's rugby league writer, James O'Brien, looks ahead to the weekend's Super League clashes, including: St Helens v Huddersfield Giants, Castleford Tigers v London Broncos, Hull KR v Wigan Warriors and Hull FC v Leeds Rhinos

Transcript

00:00It's round nine in Super League, that means we're a third of the way through the season

00:10after this weekend. We've got a fair idea of where all the sides are now. You have to

00:15say Huddersfield Giants are going into Thursday's game against St Helens there. They're in a

00:19good place. They've played seven of the first nine games away from home, finishing off at

00:24St Helens. They've got some really good wins under the belt. They obviously beat Catalan

00:29but that was in the cup. They're still away from home and a big scout there. They went

00:32on to beat Leeds at Henley, first win at Henley for six years. They need to get another monkey

00:38off the back at St Helens. They've not beaten St Helens under Ian Watson yet. They're the

00:43only Super League club they haven't knocked off under Watson. So it's a great chance for

00:49them to go there and show what they're all about. I remember a couple of years ago when

00:53they were flying in Super League, they went to St Helens. They played 12 men for most

00:57of the game and they got hammered. I'm not sure they recovered from that. If they do

01:01win at St Helens, it sets them up nicely going into a month of home games. You'd have to

01:07fancy Huddersfield to go and enjoy a really strong season. They could cement a top four

01:12spot over the next month or so, maybe even higher than that. Then you've got Friday night.

01:16You've got Cass. They play London. It's a big game. There's no automatic relegation

01:21of course this season, but it's a real opportunity for Cass to get a win under the belt. They're

01:27focusing on off the field matters to boost their IMG score, but they do need to make

01:32positive strides on the field and this is a perfect chance for them to get another win

01:36under the belt. They've only got one so far, but on the flip side, London will be targeting

01:40it as well for their first win. They won't get many opportunities and they'll be sensing

01:45an opportunity this week. Hull KR play Wigan. This rovers a smirk from a huge defeat at

01:53Catalan and a bit of a battering, which is becoming quite familiar for them in Perpignan.

01:59They do tend to respond, especially at Craven Park, back by that crowd. It's a real tough

02:04test against Wigan of course. Defending champions and the sides obviously meeting the Challenge

02:11Cup semi-finals again next month. So a chance for both sides to make a bit of a statement

02:17there. It could go either way, but Hull KR, they've got a tough run coming up. They need

02:21to show that they can beat these kinds of sides, the top sides. And then Sunday, Hull

02:28v Leeds. It's two beleaguered clubs you'd have to say. Hull, like Castleford, have made

02:35a few additions this week to try and freshen them up. Got a lot of injury issues, selection

02:41issues. They are starting to ease now and Leeds on the flip side. They're in a pretty

02:48bad place at the moment. Four straight defeats ahead of Leeds. They might be quite happy

02:52to get on the road. But it's a bit of a lose-lose for Leeds. I think the next couple of games

02:57we've got London next week. If they win them both, fans will say it papers over the cracks.

03:02You won't really know about Leeds until they play the top sides and so far, or in recent

03:07weeks, they've fallen flat against those sides. So, big couple of weeks for Aaron Smith.

03:11We'll see if he drops that short dropout tactic that was so costly last week. They just need

03:17to get back to playing orthodox rugby, win some games and find some consistency for Hull.

03:24Any win will do.

Super League - Weekend Preview by The YP's James O'Brien

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