Squad watch: Super League Round 3 squad news, TV coverage & predictions
Here is everything you need to know about Round Three of Super League, including squad news, television coverage and our predictions.
The round gets underway on Thursday night when Warrington welcome Salford to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, live on Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, the rest of the round will all take place on Friday. St Helens’ first home match of the 2023 season will be broadcast live against Leeds from the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Super League Round 3 squads:
Warrington v Salford (Thursday, 8pm, live on Sky Sports)
Winger Matty Russell drops out in the only change to Daryl Powell’s Warrington side to take on Salford this Thursday. He is replaced by Luke Thomas, who is named for the first time this year.
Powell has also provided a positive injury update on forward Joe Philbin, who is closing in on his return.
Adam Sidlow could make his first Salford appearance of the season after being named by Paul Rowley in his 21-man squad. Alex Gerrard drops out due to injury.
Warrington: Ashton, Bullock, Clark, Currie, Darbyshire, Drinkwater, Dufty, Harrison, Hayes, Holroyd, Kasiano, Mata’utia, Mikaele, Minikin, Ratchford, Thewlis, Thomas, Vaughan, Walker, Whitehead, Williams.
Salford: Brierley, Sio, Watkins, Lafai, Burgess, Croft, Sneyd, Ormondroyd, Ackers, Vuniyayawa, Stone, Partington, Atkin, Dupree, Wright, Sidlow, Longstaff, Bourouh, Williams, Costello, Cross.
Predictions: Warrington have started the season strong, with two wins from two. I’ll tip the Wolves by 16.
Catalans v Hull (Friday, 6pm)
Dragons coach Steve McNamara has made four changes to his side that beat Leigh last week. Tyrone May, Mike McMeeken, Manu Ma’u and Siosiua Taukeiaho come in for Matt Whitley, Sam Tomkins, Loan Castano and Tanguy Zenon.
Hull boss Tony Smith has made two changes. Ligi Sao and Jamie Shaul could make their first Super League appearances of the season. The duo replace Scott Taylor (suspension) and youngster Harvey Barron.
The Black and Whites are without Carlos Tuimavave, Jake Trueman, Connor Wynne and Mitieli Vulikijapani through injury.
Catalans: Mourgue, Davies, Keighran, Laguerre, May, McMeeken, McIlorum, Bousquet, Seguier, Garcia, Goudemand, Navarrete, Rouge, Chan, Romano, Teukeiaho, Dezaria, Johnstone, Scimone, Ma’u, Tison.
Hull: Hoy, Swift, Sutcliffe, McIntosh, Clifford, Sao, Houghton, Satae, Savelio, Lane, Fash, Lovodua, Cator, Evans, Scott, McNamara, Brown, Griffin, Litten, Shaul, Dwyer.
Predictions: We’ll go with home advantage for this one. Catalans by 8.
Wakefield v Huddersfield (Friday, 7:45pm)
It was confirmed on Wednesday that Wakefield’s pitch had passed its inspection ahead of Friday night’s fixture.
Trinity have been dealt a double injury blow to Kelepi Tanginoa and Max Jowitt, who are facing lengthy spells on the sidelines. They will also be without Reece Lyne, who was ruled out through a medical issue last week.
Centre Kevin Naiqama misses out for Huddersfield. He is replaced by Nathan Mason in Watson’s 21-man squad in the only change from last week’s defeat to Warrington.
Wakefield: Taufua, Hall, Gaskell, Lino, Battye, Hood, Whitbread, Ashurst, Pitts, Crowther, Kay, Atoni, Kershaw, Proctor, Smith, Langi, Butler, Murphy, Eseh, Windrow.
Huddersfield: McGillvary, Marsters, Bibby, Lolohea, Fages, Hill, Peats, Greenwood, Jones, McQueen, Yates, Golding, English, Trout, O’Brien, Wilson, Cudjoe, Livett, Russell, Mason, Pryce.
St Helens v Leeds (Friday, 8pm)
England international Tommy Makinson and Australian forward Curtis Sironen are likely to return for St Helens after missing last week’s win at Castleford. There is still no James Roby for the champions.
Leeds boss Rohan Smith has made a number of changes to his side that lost to Hull last week. Morgan Gannon is ruled out after failing his head injury assessment. Liam Tindall returns to the squad whilst Jack Sinfield makes his first appearance in the 21-man squad this season.
Leon Ruan and Luis Roberts drop out of Smith’s side.
Ireland international James Bentley returns to the Rhinos squad after recovering from a knee injury. James McDonnell, also an Irish international, could make his Leeds debut this week.
St Helens: Welsby, Makinson, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Lees, Mata’utia, Knowles, Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Sironen, Wingfield, Bell, Norman, Davies, Royle, Hurrell, Ritson, Delaney.
Leeds: Myler, Fusitu’a, Macdonald, Handley, Austin, Sezer, Leeming, Tetevano, Bentley, Martin, Smith, O’Connor, Lisone, Olpherts, Sangare, Holroyd, McDonnell, Walters, Tindall, Donaldson, Sinfield.
Predictions: You can’t look past the champions in their first game back at home following their World Club triumph. Saints by 18.
Wigan v Castleford (Friday, 8pm)
Lee Radford has made three changes to his Castleford squad that fell to a 24-6 defeat to St Helens. Alex Sutcliffe, Suaia Matagi and Daniel Smith have all been named.
Jordan Turner, Jake Mamo and Cain Robb all drop out. Paul McShane could make his 200th appearance for the club if selected.
Junior Nsemba could make his debut for Wigan. The Warriors recalled the young forward from his loan spell with Championship side Whitehaven. He replaces Joe Shorrocks in Wigan’s 21-man squad, with the latter joining Leigh on a two-week loan.
Wigan: Field, Fench, King, Wardle, Marshall, Cust, Smith, Singleton, Powell, Byrne, Isa, Farrell, Smithies, Cooper, Ellis, Havard, Pearce-Paul, Mago, O’Neill, Miski, Nsemba.
Castleford: Evalds, Eden, Fonua, Faraimo, Widdop, Miller, Lawler, McShane, Griffin, Edwards, Mellor, Westerman, Massey, Sutcliffe, Milner, Broadbent, Vete, Mustapha, Smith, Matagi, Watts.
Predictions: Castleford find themselves two defeats from two so far in 2023, while Wigan picked up their first win with a 60-0 triumph at home over Wakefield. We’ll predict the Warriors to come away with two points by 16.
Hull KR v Leigh (Friday, 8pm)
Hull KR coach Willie Peters has made a couple of changes to his side that won at Salford. Scotland international full-back Lachlan Coote and Australian forward Rhys Kennedy could return to action.
Papua New Guinea international Edwin Ipape will return for Leigh’s trip to Hull KR. The Leopards could also welcome back influential half-back Joe Mellor, who has yet to play this season due to injury.
Joe Shorrocks, who has joined Leigh on a two-week loan from Wigan, could make his debut for the Leopards.
Hull KR: Coote, Ryan, Opacic, Kenny-Dowall, Hall, Abdull, Sue, Parcell, King, Halton, Linnett, Minchella, Litten, Kennedy, Batchelor, Dagger, Lewis, Milnes, Wood, Johnson, Luckley.
Leigh: Hardaker, Briscoe, Chamberlain, Leutele, Charnley, Mellor, Lam, Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, Wardle, Hughes, Asiata, Nakubuwai, Reynolds, O’Brien, Davis, Gannon, O’Donnell, Seumanufagai, Shorrocks.
Predictions: Hull KR are two from two, whilst Leigh are searching for their first win of the Super League campaign. We’ll go the Robins by 4, but there won’t be much in it.
READ NEXT: Super League Magic Weekend 2023: Venues, fixtures and kick-off times
