Five things we learned: St Helens clear favourites, comeback kings Wigan, Wakefield breaking records
There were not as many games on the weekend due to the weather conditions but there were still enough to get us talking.
St Helens are clear title favourites
Before the season started, the majority of Rugby League fans were tipping St Helens to win the Super League Grand Final this year. If anyone has been put a bet on that happening, they will be surely licking their lips right now. Saints eased past Salford Red Devils 34-2 at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Sunday. Any guesses for the man of the match? Yeah, you guessed it – Ben Barba. Justin Holbrook has proved to be a magnificent coach since coming over to the UK last year and has got his team playing a great brand of Rugby League.
Featherstone seriously competing for a Super League spot
Featherstone Rovers showed they mean business on Sunday as they came from a 20-14 deficit at half-time to clinch a crucial 38-30 victory against Leigh Centurions at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday. Yes, Leigh have had a poor start to the season, but Featherstone did very well to go there and pick up the two points. The Rovers look to be really competing for a place in Super League this year. Martyn Ridyard was outstanding against his former club Leigh, too. He scored twice, grabbed three assists, kicked four goals and a 40/20.
Wakefield smashing records
Wakefield Trinity have enjoyed a fantastic start to the 2018 season, with four wins from four games. They beat Huddersfield Giants 22-4 at the Mobile Rocket Stadium on Sunday, helped by a classy performance from Liam Finn. They have won their opening four games for the first time in the Super League area and, quite remarkably, for the first time since 1945. Chris Chester must be absolutely delighted with his side at the minute but won’t be sitting back anytime soon, with a tough trip to Wigan coming up this weekend.
Huddersfield could be in for long year
Huddersfield suffered their third loss of the season at Wakefield. The Giants weren’t expected to win, but they didn’t even put in a hopeful performance, much to the disappointment of the travelling supporters. There is no doubting that the Giants have got a good team on paper, but the main task coach Rick Stone faces now is getting confidence back into his side after a poor start to the campaign. If they carry on performing like they are doing, they could be in for a tough ride this year.
Never write Wigan off
The saying goes ‘never write off the Saints’, which is true, but we can never write off the Warriors either. Wigan put in a splendid second half display to come from being 16-4 behind at half time to beating the in-form Widnes Vikings 32-16 in their first game at the DW Stadium in almost six months. It’s easier said than done, but if Shaun Wane can get his side to perform for the full 80 minutes like what they did in the second half against Widnes, they would be a force to be reckoned with this year.
Widnes shouldn’t be too worried by the defeat though. They put in a lot of effort in the first half but Wigan just took too much juice out of them in the second period. Denis Betts’ side have had a decent start to the campaign and its games against the likes of Hull KR, Huddersfield, Catalans and Salford that they need to nail and focus on – not Wigan away.
