Rivals Round returns this week as Super League edges ever closer towards the serious business of the play-offs with just three regular rounds now remaining.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s Round 25 fixtures sees a number of mouthwatering derbies as in-form Leeds Rhinos travel to West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Giants on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Friday sees St Helens host sworn enemies St Helens and play-off hopefuls Wakefield Trinity travel to old adversaries Castleford Tigers before a tantalising Hull derby at Sewell Group Craven Park on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Here, legendary former Widnes, Wigan and Great Britain winger Martin Offiah gives Love Rugby League his red-hot tips for all six games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Huddersfield Giants v Leeds Rhinos (Thursday, 8pm)<\/p>\n
With the form that Leeds are in, I\u2019m definitely going to back them to win this one.<\/p>\n
The Giants got smashed at Wakefield last weekend and Luke Robinson will expect a response against the Rhinos.<\/p>\n
But Brad Arthur\u2019s men are flying right now and I think they will show their class in this one.<\/p>\n
Offiah\u2019s prediction:\u00a0Leeds by\u00a010\u00a0<\/p>\n
Salford Red Devils v Catalans Dragons (Thursday, 8pm)<\/p>\n
Turmoil is everywhere at Salford given the off-field uncertainty surrounding the club.<\/p>\n
But on the field they are on a real high after going to Warrington and turning them over last week.<\/p>\n
That was an incredible result, built on spirit and emotion, and if Paul Rowley can get a team out on the field against Catalans then I\u2019m backing my old club to eke out another win.<\/p>\n
Offiah\u2019s prediction:\u00a0Salford by\u00a06<\/p>\n
Castleford Tigers v Wakefield Trinity (Friday, 8pm)<\/p>\n
Wakefield are a team on the rise under Daryl Powell and are looking like a team with aspirations to not just survive in Super League in the coming years but actually thrive.<\/p>\n
The play-offs are firmly in their sights this season and I can see them going to Cas and winning fairly comfortably.<\/p>\n
Offiah\u2019s prediction:\u00a0Wakefield by\u00a012<\/p>\n
St Helens v Wigan Warriors (Friday, 8pm)<\/p>\n
This is the kind of game that Wigan need and you can probably say that for both teams.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the Saints side of a few seasons ago when they were winning four successive Super League titles.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m always going to back Wigan and I know how big these derbies are, having played in them, but I think the Warriors will edge it.<\/p>\n
Offiah\u2019s prediction:\u00a0Wigan by 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Warrington Wolves v Leigh Leopards (Saturday, 3pm)<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t really put my finger on what has gone so badly wrong at Warrington \u2013 they seem to be falling off the edge of a cliff.<\/p>\n
They had a fantastic season last year but things seem to have slipped and to lose at home to Salford last Friday was a bitter pill to swallow.<\/p>\n
Sam Burgess has been backed by the Wolves hierarchy this week but you look at Leigh\u2019s form this season and would expect them to win this one.<\/p>\n
Offiah\u2019s prediction:\u00a0Leigh by 8<\/p>\n
Hull Kingston Rovers v Hull FC (Sunday, 3.05pm)<\/p>\n
This will be another absolute belter.<\/p>\n
Hull KR are fast closing in on the League Leaders\u2019 Shield and Hull FC will head across town determined to put one over on them.<\/p>\n
I like what John Cartwright has done with the Black and Whites this year, but I can\u2019t see them stopping the Robins on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Offiah\u2019s prediction:\u00a0Hull KR by\u00a010<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rivals Round returns this week as Super League edges ever closer towards the serious business of the play-offs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-113802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}