Super League - 3rd/4th May

[trickrick]

3 May 2008
15:00 Huddersfield (25/12) Draw (20) Warrington (4/9) 107%17:00 Castleford (5/2) Draw (25) Wakefield (4/9)
19:00 Bradford (9/5) Draw (20) Leeds (19/29)

4 May 2008
14:30 Catalans Dragons (4/6) Draw (20) Harlequins RL (11/8)
16:30 Hull (19/29) Draw (20) Hull K R (11/8)
18:30 St Helens (4/11) Draw (22) Wigan (9/4)

Not a particularly big fan of rugby league, and no idea really who is in form etc, but this thread was prompted after catching the regular Real Radio (Yorkshire) Thursday RL phone in which they had a betting tipster slot. This 'expert' said this was the tightest set of matches he had ever known, with the biggest handicap margin being only 8 points. He also tipped the following..

Bradford to beat Leeds - 9/5 (Boylesports)
Castleford to be top points scorers over the weekend - 25/1
Hull to beat Hull KR - 4/6 (William Hills)

[Snodser]

Can't help you there trickrick, I know nothing about league.

Must be somebody in here who follows league though

Come on down folks, we've got 'till tomorrow pm, plenty of time left........

[Winrew]

Millenium Magic weekend
All the matches being played at the Millenium stadium over the weekend , estimated 60 thousand fans down for it.

I have been a fan of RL for more years than i care to mention , but from a betting point of view ive done nothing special , its the bloody handicaps , the guy that does them is top notch , once in a while a crazy result goes against the handicapper , but more times than enough hes on the mark.
Dont know how many bets ive lost by a single score

Ian Millward has a review on the Sporting Life site , i`ll post some stuff up..

[Winrew]

Huddersfield (+8) v Warrington Warrington have lost four in a row and with the talent that they have got that is a very poor performance. Last week they at least contributed to a classic game with St Helens despite losing again. That will have given them confidence, and I'll nominate them as one of the bets of the round to win the game against Huddersfield and cover the start. The Giants have been poor for quite a few weeks now. Their attack has been too deep and their defence has been too loose. Warrington can take advantage this weekend and bounce back from their losing slump as their big players can rise to the occasion in this fantastic stadium.

Castleford (+6) v Wakefield Wakefield were down 20-6 at half-time last week and they came back to win quite convincingly against Harlequins. If they play like they did in the second half they will beat Castleford, but if they don't start well the Tigers will have a real sniff. The interesting thing punters should consider is the fact Wakefield have covered the start in their last four games but it's very hard to keep covering the start like that. I'm going to go for a bit of an upset here and go with the Tigers. Wakefield started slowly at home last week, and with Ricky Bibey out this week that will put a lot of pressure on Richard Moore. Cas can start well here and if they do they can respond to the atmosphere and make the most of their handicap advantage.

Bradford (+4) v Leeds Leeds have got a few injury problems at the moment and they seem to have too many back-rowers out with Gareth Ellis, Jamie Jones-Buchanen and Ali Lauititi all missing. They lose a lot of strike there and that makes it really hard for them as Bradford are strong in that area with the likes of David Solomona. I'm going to take Bradford to cover the start and win the game. I don't think there will be a lot in the game but the injuries to Leeds will handicap them and the Bulls can capitalise and prove a point after their last loss to the Rhinos at home.

Harlequins (+4) v Catalans Harlequins completely dominated the first half against Wakefield before falling asleep. There will have been some soul-searching as to why they didn't go on and win the game. They did have a couple of tries disallowed that would have put the game to bed and wouldn't have let Wakefield back into it but that shouldn't disguise the fact they were very poor second period. I think this week they can start just as well - and see it through. Scott Hill came off the field last week when they were leading 20-6 and they conceded the points with him out of the game. With him starting and hopefully playing 80 minutes Harlequins can cause a little bit of an upset here and win the match.

More to follow , all previews Sporting Life...

[Winrew]

I would disagree with the Harlequins shout and go for Catalans , surprise package of the season , currently 2nd in the table.
Must say , they have been playing some great rugby , home and away , i thought they would struggle when Jones retired at the end of last season .
-4 not a massive handicap to overcome.

I expect Bradford will beat Leeds , as mentioned by Millward , Leeds have a an injury crisis , and this is a bit of a revenge mission for Bradford , after they were robbed last year in the same fixture..

[Snodser]

Cheers Winrew

Its Bradford and the Dragons then,

The Dragons are available -2 10/11 @ PP & BS

[trickrick]

Yep - Gotta go for it...It has everything in their favour...Revenge, injuries wth the opposition, all the tipsters are for them, coming into form..

Sod the handicap when you can get a value bet like 9/5...(Hills go 6/5 )

Bradford to beat Leeds - 6 pt stake @ 9/5 (Boylesports)

[Snodser]

Bradford win 13/8 5pts & Bradford +6 10/11 10pts

Dragons win 4/5 10pts & Dragons -2 10/11 5pts

[Winrew]

Bradford 10-6 Leeds

Half time , close game so far...

[Snodser]

26-40

the fun never stops

[Winrew]

They were bloody awful in the second half
lets hope sunday brings better results..

[Snodser]

Originally Posted by Winrew

They were bloody awful in the second half
lets hope sunday brings better results..

Apart from the dragons what have you got for sunday Winrew?

[Winrew]

Well i`ll be ignoring Ian Millward , he got 3/4 wrong today.

Hull v Hull KR
Last time they played in March , Hull KR came out on top , winning 11-10.
Not a lot between them in the league.

Hull KR are boosted by the return of back row forward Chris Chester and centre Chev Walker after injury. Scott Murrell or Ben Cockayne are set to deputise at scrum-half as Hull await the arrival of Michael Dobson.

Any wiser ? No , me neither.
Probably go for a KR win , mainly because big Chev is back in the team.

Millwards thoughts......

Hull KR won the last Hull derby when there was nothing in the game and both teams were a bit flat in attack. Home ground advantage was a huge help to them that day and back on a neutral ground Hull can exact revenge. Hull have no excuses - they have Adam Dykes back, they've got the players to cause some damage to Hull KR and at this venue they can win the game and cover the start. This is probably one of the most important games of the round and Hull can step up to the mark and gain some bragging rights for their fans.

Wigan v St Helens
I`ll be going for anytime try scorer.
James Roby (Saints ) @ 5/2 Skybet
Willie Talu (Saints) @ 15/8 Bet 365
Darrel Goulding (Wigan) @ 2/1 Skybet

Saints should win , and win easy , but Wigan are one of those teams that you just cant trust to help you out
Theyve done me several times !!
They played eachother in March , Saints tonked them 46-10.
Lets hope its a similer score and the try scorers are listed above....

[Winrew]

Well,the French let us down!!!
Depending on the handicap you got , they drew or got beat.
Still , Hull KR gave us a win and the Saints tonked Wigan , along with Willie Talu (Saints) @ 15/8 Bet 365 , getting a return with the any time try scorer...

Not the best weekend

[Snodser]

Would you believe I had the frogs 4/5 for the win!

Overall though it was a pretty horrible weekend

Horror stories in both codes.............oh well it can only get better