Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves – Saturday @ 18.00
When Wigan and Warrington walk out at Old Trafford on Saturday it will be the SIXTH time they’ve met this season, Wigan are currently leading 3-2 in the head to head. Interestingly enough, every time they’ve played this season it’s been the team with the home advantage winning.
Their one meeting on neutral ground this year was at the Magic Weekend in Newcastle where the Warriors came out comfortable 38-10 victors.
Wigan have gone on a nine-game winning streak since losing to St Helens in mid July. Their defence has been incredibly good in those games, shipping a meagre 92 points in total.
Rugby League – Super League Semi Final – Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers – DW Stadium, Wigan, Britain – October 5, 2018 Wigan Warriors’ Sam Tomkins prepares to take a conversion attempt Action Images/Craig Brough
Warrington have been steady all year, beating what’s been put in front of them for the most part but their main flaw was they’ve come up short in most games against the teams around them.
They also lived up to their unfortunate reputation among rival for lacking bottle by losing the Challenge Cup final in August to the Catalan Dragons.
What we witnessed last week when they went to St Helens and put in their most complete performance all season was nothing short of spectacular, especially as they’d been comprehensively beaten by the same opposition two weeks before.
Rugby League – Super League Semi Final – St Helens v Warrington Wolves – Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens, Britain – October 4, 2018 Warrington Wolves’ Stefan Ratchford during the match Action Images/Ed Sykes
The Wolves got their retribution – and more – on October 4th. Defensively, they held up when it mattered against the irresistible attack of Saints and clawed their way back from 9-2 down to win 18-13 in what was arguably the game of the season.
This will have the Wire fans full of confidence on Saturday when they finally look to end their hoodoo of never winning a Grand Final.
This should be a better spectacle than last year’s Grand Final too, and we expect the kicking games of both teams to come right to the fore. Knowing that both teams have been on top of their defensive game over the past few weeks, we expect a lot of 2 pointers to be taken, with the odd try to separate the teams at full time.
Best Bets
First score of the game: Warrington penalty – 7/2
Man of the Match: Stefan Ratchford – 14/1
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*All odds correct at time of posting