Super League Betting: Leeds want three out of three

“A lot hinges on how quickly Castleford are able to get over Monday’s gut wrenching last minute defeat at St Helens.”

The Rhinos are bidding to pick up their third win in a row but Cas will offer stiff opposition. Meanwhile, there’s plenty at stake at the Stoop as Stuart Jones selects the best Bank Holiday weekend bets…

Back-to-back wins over the Easter period will have relieved some of the pressure on Leeds boss Brian McDermott and, with Jamie Peacock set to make his return from injury, confidence will be high in the Leeds camp as they take on a high-flying Castleford side at the Probiz Coliseum on Friday night.

Leeds were made to fight hard for the win at Bradford last week, not securing victory until very late on in the game, but they had no such problems overcoming the Crusaders at Headingley on Monday. The Rhinos went ahead early in the game and only a couple of soft intercept tries gave the scoreline some respectability from a Welsh point of view.

A lot hinges on how quickly Castleford are able to get over Monday’s gut wrenching last minute defeat at St Helens. Terry Matterson’s side led until the last play of the game at the Stobart Stadium and it is asking a lot for them to bounce from such a hard game just four days on, mentally as well as physically. To make matters worse for the Tigers, they will have to take on Leeds without Nick Fozzard and in-form prop Craig Huby.

Danny Maguire, Jamie Peacock and Ben Cross are all named in McDermott’s nineteen-man squad for the first time this season and I think Leeds will have too much for a jaded Tigers. I expect Leeds to be asked to concede 6.5 pts on the handicap and would be happy to back them to do so at around [1.9].

Harlequins and Salford couldn’t manage a win between them over Easter, so there is plenty at stake for both sides when they meet at the Stoop on Saturday evening.

Scoring points hasn’t been the problem for Quins this season, it’s been how many they concede that will have been giving Rob Powell nightmares. Only Salford have leaked more points so far this term.

With Luke Dorn and the underrated Luke Gale pulling the strings in the halves, it’s not hard to see why Quins have no problem getting over the whitewash, and they should have plenty of space to work in this week if Salford’s recent performances are anything to go by.

Salford appear to have taken a couple of step backwards in the last few rounds, and have faced two of the biggest packs in Super League just four days apart. They have also had a day less to recover than their rivals. I reckon that could be the telling factor and am happy to take Quins -6.5 pts.

Although it’s not in front of the Sky cameras, it could be worth keeping an eye on the handicap for Bradford v Warrington. We all know that the Wolves can’t always be trusted, but this seems an ideal time to take on the Bulls. They had a hard game against Leeds last Thursday and haven’t had long to overcome a gruelling trip to France. Tony Smith will have read the riot act to his men after their latest defeat and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Bradford end up on the wrong end of a hammering.

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April 27, 2011 • Posted in: Betting Posts

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