My 1st Bet of the 2011 engage Super League season will come in the highlight fixture of the 'Magic Weekend' the repeat of the 2010 Grand Final (Wigan Warriors 22-10 St Helens) which sees defending champions Wigan Warriors take on fierce rivals and last seasons runners-up St Helens, A quick look at the two teams and a look into the reason behind this selection is that whereas in previous seasons the reigning champions have seemed to go into the next season with in more cases the same squad in which they won the title with Wigan Warriors have strengthened an already impressive squad which had great strength in depth with 3 overseas signings from Australias 2007 & 2009 Grand Final winning side Melbourne Storm (Although the titles where later stripped for salary Cap breaches) in New Zealand Internation Prop Forward - Jeff Lima (28), Australian International Second Row - Ryan Hoffman (27) & Halfback - Brett Finch (29) who is ruled out of the opening fixture with injury aswell as the return to fitness of Winger/FullBack - Amos Roberts (30) who missed a large part of last season due to injury, The only setback is that they will be without last seasons engage Super League 'Top Points Scorer' & 'Man Of Steel' who is ruled out with an Achilles injury but the returning Amos Roberts is a more than capable replacement. St Helens on the other hand have lost their inspirational leader & Legend in Keiron Cunningham to retirement which in my opinion leaves a big dent in the side as he was there go too man who could often spark the team into action when struggling & Experienced former Australia International Centre Matt Gidley = big losses to an already aging side but they have brought in some fresh young faces but untested at a top level club in ex Harlequins RL Prop Forward - Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook (25), England International Centre - Michael Shenton (24) From Castleford Tigers & Experienced Prop Forward Josh Perry (30) from Australias Manly Sea-Eagles (Who misses the start of the season due to injury).
So to the game Wigan Warriors are coming off 3 succesive Pre-Season wins in which they have looked strong and fully prepared to try and regain their crown, also in the last game 18-24 victory against 2010 Challenge Cup winners Warrington Wolves (2nd Favourites for the 2011 Championship behind Wigan)inWarringtonthey had a fixture that i believe brings them straight into and up to speed with the intensity needed to start the new engage Super League season, Apart from Pat Richards & Brett Finch they have a fit improved squad with also 14/17 of last seasons Grand Final winning side available, St Helens on the otherhand were beaten comfortably 12-36 by the Huddersfield Giants in their final Pre-Season game which isn't ideal preperation and big question marks still hang over the fitness of key halfback pairing Kyle Eastmond & Leon Pryce who have both had surgery at the end of the 2010 season and little game time in Pre-Season, 12/17 of last seasons Grand Final losing side available for the opening fixture, to add to this St Helens coach Royce Simmons has spent most of the week in Australia due to family illness and isn't back in the country yet which isn't ideal for Saints going into such a big clash against the competitions no1 team, as it's early in the season and we can't be 100% sure what level the teams are at and although i like the handicap of Wigan Warriors -2 and i do expect a victory of 8-12 points i'll be playing it safe and just backing the outright win.
Selection No1:
£50:
Wigan Warriors (To Beat) St Helens @ 1.70 (SportingBet)
St Helens vs Wigan Warriors (12 Feb 2011 19:00 - GMT)
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
engage Super League
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Wigan Warriors got off to a flying start going into the break 12-0 up with some great attacking play and their defence showing no signs of cracking with some ruthless tackles stopping anything that St Helens (Who lacked ideas in attack just as i though in the absence of Leon Pryce) could throw at them, Shortly after the break they extended the lead to 16-0 and it looked like they had the game in the bag looking solid both with and without the ball, Then with 16 minutes left a lack of discipline and what i can only assume was fatigue being the 1st game of the 2011 season allowed St Helens to mount their comeback with Wigan falling off tackles and holding down the Saints players to allow for extra rest resulting in St Helens making easy yards up the field on the back of penalties to eventually level 16-16 with 5 minutes remaining, The drama didn't end there as both Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors) & Kyle Eastmond (St Helens) missed late opportunities to win the game with Drop-Goal attempts narrowly going wide of the posts.
Originally Posted by RLF
