The Yorkshire Post's rugby league writer, James O'Brien, looks ahead to Round 11's games in Super League, starting with Hull KR's visit to Warrington Wolves on Thursday night.
He also previews Castleford Tigers v St Helens, Huddersfield Giants v Wigan Warriors, Catalans Dragons v Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC's trip to London Broncos on Sunday ...
He also previews Castleford Tigers v St Helens, Huddersfield Giants v Wigan Warriors, Catalans Dragons v Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC's trip to London Broncos on Sunday ...
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00:00 It's round 11 in Super League, there's a lot to look forward to this weekend. It starts
00:12 Thursday night, you've got Hulker going to Warrens and Wolves. Another test for the Robins,
00:17 as we've been saying for the past few weeks now, they've beat Wigan and St Helens at home,
00:22 they've passed those tests, but they really need to start winning on the road. That was
00:28 an issue for them last season, they didn't manage to beat any of their play-off rivals
00:32 away from home. This season they've lost at Catalan and Salford, who are up there at the
00:36 moment as well. So it'd be massive for them if they could go away from home, win at the
00:40 Halliwell Jones Stadium, build that belief, because at the back end of the season, unless
00:45 you finish in the top two, you do have to go away and win at one of those big sides.
00:52 If you do want to make it to Old Trafford, obviously they've got the semi-final against
00:55 Wigan in the Challenge Cup next week as well. So they're building towards that, hopefully
00:59 get another shot at Wembley after falling just short last year. So a lot for the Robins
01:04 to look forward to, but as I say, they need to get that monkey off the bat, they need
01:08 to win away from home at one of the big sides and it's a great opportunity tonight when
01:13 they're full of belief after just knocking off St Helens, who go to Castleford. Same
01:19 thing, in a bad spot, they're one of six teams locked on 14 points at the top. But the fans
01:25 aren't too happy with Paul Wellens at the moment, their style of rugby, they haven't
01:29 posted that many points this season, they're not playing a free-flowing style, they've
01:33 been grinding results out up until last week, they obviously conceded 40 points. So there
01:37 are a few vulnerabilities there, although the Robins were red hot last week. Castleford
01:44 are obviously in their situation, they have improved, but they cannot afford to take St
01:47 Helens lightly. St Helens can turn up on the day and put a big score on you, so Cass need
01:52 to pick up where they left off at Lee and really go at St Helens because there might
01:57 be a bit of anxiety there among the Saints players. You never know, it's a good opportunity
02:03 for Cass, they've got the break obviously next week before they play Hull, which is
02:07 a big game down at the bottom if they're going to pull away Castleford. And then Saturday
02:12 you've got Huddersfield playing Wigan. Huddersfield haven't been great at home this season, they
02:17 had that run of games on the road, they emerged out of that period with in-credit you'd have
02:23 to say, but they've lost all three games at John Smith Stadium, it's very flat there at
02:26 the moment. The visit of the champions, you've got to hope that's going to get them going
02:31 in the Saturday sunshine, there's a good weather forecast this weekend, so hopefully that's
02:35 an entertaining game and hopefully the Giants can get back on track and push up towards
02:40 that top six. Elsewhere you've got Leeds and Catalan, Ron Smith's been under pressure recently
02:46 but I don't think you can read too much into this game in Perpignan, he's low on numbers
02:51 at the moment, a lot of players missing including Brodercroft, so it would be a harsh I'd say
02:57 to judge him on this game, but he does need to get a committed performance from his team
03:02 and it needs to be a respectable result obviously as well. Going into a break when they should
03:08 get a few numbers back then, Hull FC on Sunday they go to London, Hull haven't won since
03:15 beating London, their only victory so far in early March, they need to go there and
03:20 then it's putting a committed performance, they are getting healthier, they've made a
03:23 number of signings so there's no excuse they have to go to London who are still winless,
03:28 they are the whipping boys this season, Hull need to go there, put in a committed performance,
03:32 get a big win, build some confidence, going into the break and then as I say they play
03:36 Cass which is a big game for them and Cass.
03:38 END
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