Rugby League Weekend


Nothing has caught my eye in Super League this weekend but I've got one from the Championship. France getting 36 off Stan James was also a consideration. If France can be competitive for at least the first 30 minutes then I think it will be hard mark to cover. I talked myself out of it on the basis that England are capable of running up a big score and this French side are no Catalan. That said, I think I'll try to be with the French on the exchanges for the 30 something handicap, hopefully as an odds on layer.
 
Halifax v Barrow



14th June 15:00 BST

The top two meet and I can't have the handicap this high. It's true that Halifax were back to their best in the big defeat of Leigh but they would have to repeat that very best form to cover here. Of course they are capable but most sides don't peak on consecutive weeks. Halifax have had their little blip against Sheffield and a patchy performance versus Doncaster that followed their heroic cup game with Castleford and that shows that they aren't necessarily the best in the league "by a country mile".

Barrow were very disappointing last weekend when scraping past Dewsbury in the cup but again I don't expect them to remain at that level of performance, I'm expecting an improvement. The Barrow side have been warned by the big spending chairman that their futures are on the line this week and he won't hesitate to replace under-performers. The camp is positive and they only have one long term absentee in Liam Campbell. Andy Brocklehurst will return after being rested last weekend and he will add some creativity.

Cooperative Championship Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	BP	PTS
1	Barrow	10	8	0	2	302	140	2	26
2	Halifax	9	8	0	1	363	166	0	24
3	Widnes	12	6	0	6	330	256	5	23
4	Featherstone	10	7	0	3	313	225	0	21
5	Whitehaven	11	6	0	5	328	310	2	20
6	Toulouse	10	6	0	4	316	278	1	19
7	Leigh	10	5	0	5	192	245	3	18
8	Sheffield	10	3	0	7	266	233	7	16
9	Batley	10	3	1	6	206	382	1	12
10	Gateshead	10	2	1	7	248	407	1	9
11	Doncaster	10	1	0	9	173	395	3	6

I thought when I set my own handicap that I'd be with Halifax because I thought I was a touch on the high side with my 10.5. I was surprised to see 14. This is virtually the mark that Leigh got last weekend and Barrow are a lot better than Leigh, so you can tell the over-reaction from the bookmakers.

Pick:  Barrow +14 3pts @ 1.91 with Bet365, Betfred and Skybet

As a bonus seeing as the Super League didn't inspire me I'll give out some of my lay prices that I've got in on Betfair:

Celtic 5.5 (partially matched)
Wigan 1.14
Draw 28
 
Celtic +14.5 1.86
Wigan -14.5 1.86
 
Wakefield 1.68
Hull 2.14
Draw 21
 
Wakefield -2.5 1.86
Hull +2.5 1.86
 
Leeds 1.21
Huddersfield 4.1 (partiallymatched)
Draw 24
 
Leeds -10.5 1.86
Hudd +10.5 1.86
 
Warrington 1.3
Bradford 3.45 (partially matched)
Draw 23
 
Warrington -8.5 1.83
Bradford +8.5 1.87 (partially matched)
 
The Man