This Week's Rugby League


Workington v London Skolars



17th May 14:00 BST

Until London Skolars show any sign of being competitive they are opposable and it is a long time since they kept a team to within 30pts. They usually have a decent recruitment policy and can be relied upon to conjure up a few unknown stars usually from overseas but this season they have drawn a blank. They are making a conscious effort to have more Southern based local players but I'm afraid they are out of their depth.

Cooperative Championship 1 Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	BP	PTS
1	Dewsbury	6	6	0	0	232	77	0	18
2	Oldham	7	5	0	2	296	166	1	16
3	Hunslet	6	4	0	2	180	110	1	13
4	York	6	4	0	2	140	103	1	13
5	Swinton	6	4	0	2	218	171	0	12
6	Keighley	6	3	0	3	157	141	3	12
7	Blackpool	7	3	0	4	178	164	2	11
8	Workington	6	1	0	5	97	210	1	4
9	London Skolars	6	0	0	6	44	379	0	0
10	Rochdale	6	1	0	5	135	156	4	-2

Workington themselves are no great shakes and can perhaps make a claim to be the second poorest team in the division but they do have players established at this level. They haven't really been blown away in any of their fixtures and kept a decent Hunslet team to within 16pts last time out. Hunslet themselves had massacred London so there's a formline if you need it. Stake is a touch on the low side with weather concerns but I still had Town by 40pts.

Pick: Workington -30 2pts @ 1.91 with Bet365

 
Gateshead v Whitehaven

 

17th May 15:00 BST

I sense that Gateshead are starting to get up to speed in this division. They have brought in experienced coach Steve McCormack who knows what's required at this level. He's also a former Haven coach and will know all about the danger men. Gateshead have recorded encouraging victories against Sheffield, Doncaster and a decent Oldham side in the cup and you can also add an earlier cup win against Haven.

Cooperative Championship Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	BP	PTS
1	Halifax	7	7	0	0	301	122	0	21
2	Barrow	7	6	0	1	218	88	1	19
3	Widnes	10	5	0	5	250	186	4	19
4	Leigh	9	5	0	4	168	215	2	17
5	Featherstone	7	5	0	2	203	145	0	15
6	Whitehaven	8	4	0	4	216	216	2	14
7	Toulouse	7	4	0	3	230	190	1	13
8	Sheffield	7	1	0	6	150	169	6	9
9	Gateshead	7	2	1	4	168	271	0	8
10	Doncaster	7	1	0	6	145	241	3	6
11	Batley	8	1	1	6	118	324	1	6

Haven will feel they have got over a sticky spell with last week's victory over Widnes but this is the poorest Widnes side in living memory. I said last week that Whitehaven have such contrasting home and away form and this week they travel. They have threats especially in half-back Greg McNally who's scoring tries for fun but they still have a few injury problems and I can't make a case for them being favourites. If anything the 4pts should be against the home side in my book.

Pick: Gateshead +4 3pts @ 1.91 with Stan James

 
Catalan v St.Helens

 

16th May 17:15 BST

Always dangerous taking on a St.Helens team who are more than capable of running up a big score against anyone. Perhaps even more foolhardy to some when they face the same team who they comfortably disposed of last weekend in the cup but I'll take my chances with the start on offer. I didn't feel that Catalan got the rub of the green with a few contentious decisions last weekend and they also coughed up far too much possession. Give Saints even 50% of the ball and they will do damage. If Catalan can improve in this area then I feel they can be competitive. They still have plenty of decent players. I've always liked Mogg, Greenshields, Mcguire and Bosc who are the heartbeat of the team and players like Ferriol and Fakir can give them decent go forward. Saints have a poor record in the South of France and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there was a home victory.

Super League Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
1	Hull KR	13	9	1	3	340	229	19
2	St Helens	12	9	0	3	357	216	18
3	Leeds	13	9	0	4	303	189	18
4	Huddersfield	12	8	0	4	290	213	16
5	Harlequins RL	11	7	0	4	287	214	14
6	Wakefield	12	7	0	5	281	253	14
7	Hull	12	7	0	5	256	240	14
8	Castleford	13	7	0	6	311	321	14
9	Wigan	14	6	0	8	332	287	12
10	Bradford	11	4	1	6	235	295	9
11	Warrington	12	4	0	8	277	350	8
12	Catalans Dragons	12	4	0	8	262	338	8
13	Salford	12	3	0	9	192	385	6
14	Celtic Crusaders	11	0	0	11	158	351	0

The odds of 4.5 are more than fair but they are for the braver punter than me in terms of my Priceform account, although I've got a price in on Betfair of 1.3 trying to lay Saints. Let's not forget that Saints put in two back to back poor performances against Bradford and Wigan and I wasn't convinced that they were back firing in last week's victory. Let's home they stutter again. I had Saints by 8.

Pick:  Catalan +12 3pts @ 1.91 with Bluesq or Ladbrokes
 
The Man