Thursday Night Rugby League

By The Man

Featherstone v Keighley Cougars



22nd April 19:30 GMT
Sky Sports 3 (19:30-21:30), Sky Sports HD3 (19:30-21:30)

Keighley have stepped in to the breach after original opponents, Toulouse, were left stranded in France due to the volcanic dust affecting flights. However, the fixture has come at an opportune time for them as they had a free weekend due to being earlier knocked out of the Challenge Cup and were the team set to miss out this time in a league that has an odd number of competitors.

The time off has allowed Keighley to repair the bumps and bruises and they will come in to this fixture fresh. By contrast, Featherstone had a tough, physical battle at Warrington on Sunday and it is bound to have taken a bit of juice out of them.

Featherstone coach, Daryll Powell, has been quoted as wanting to freshen the team up and Tommy Saxton and Tony Tonks are both rested for this fixture. Danny Allen and Jamie Field are the players expected to be added to the squad.

There is little doubt that Featherstone are the form team of this division and a class above the Keighley outfit. They are more than capable of running in a very big score and have previously covered the kind of start on offer in their last two home games against Whitehaven and Halifax. The betting public have been quick to acknowledge this as the -28pts start has been well backed and the line has gone as high as 32pts.

Keighley could well lose by that amount but I feel the line has gone a touch too far. Keighley got their campaign off to a shocking start with a trouncing at Widnes but since then have gradually improved with a fine draw to Sheffield and an impressive win at Dewsbury.

I'm going to have a small wager on Keighley with the high start. The worry is that the firmer grounds will allow the gulf in class to tell but I'm hoping that the Challenge Cup fatigue will have an effect and it may well be that there is a bit of complacency for what looks on paper a certain victory. I feel there will be plenty of points although the lines all look high enough for me. Hopefully the fatigue factor will allow Keighley to post enough for the bet to be successful.
 
Pick: Keighley +32 2pts @ 1.91 with Stan James
 
The Man