Super League Betting: St Helens can fight of the Wolves

The return of Ben Westwood is a plus but will it prevent St Helens beating Warrington?

The race to reach the Grand Final has arrived so we asked Stuart Jones to preview this weekend's huge Super League play-off semi-finals...

A war of words between rival coaches Shaun Wane and Brian McDermott over the merit of Danny McGuire's suspension has added extra spice to what promises to be a play-off clash to remember at the DW Stadium on Friday night as Wigan and Leeds face off for a place at Old Trafford.

It's not the first time McGuire has been at the centre of a heated exchange between the two clubs, the Leeds playmaker suffering a serious knee injury when controversially tackling winger Pat Richards without the ball in the 2010 play-offs. That injury ruled McGuire out of the re-match at Headingley a fortnight later, a game that Wigan went on to win comfortably before going onto to be crowned champions.

Wigan themselves are missing Michael McIllorum through suspension, but he's nowhere near as important to the Warriors as McGuire is to the Rhinos. Sean O'Loughlin and Thomas Leuluai can fill the void left at hooker, but Leeds don't have anyone who can come close to posing the same kind of attacking threat as their regular scrum-half.

With home advantage and a pretty much full strength outfit, Shaun Wane's side should prove clinical enough to end the hopes of another Grand Final appearance for the Rhinos, and in doing so are expected to cover the handicap of -12.5 points.

Saturday's game between St Helens and Warrington should be a very tight encounter if the high street bookies are to be believed, most firms struggling to split the two sides in the outright market, and the Betfair layers are no different.

Coming into the play-offs I was convinced that Warrington were the side to beat, but that's not looked to be the case so far, and they were beaten by 28 points to six on home turf by Saints a fortnight ago.
Despite that victory and home advantage, Saints are still slight underdogs going into this game and that's hard to fathom. Their record of reaching Old Trafford is second to none, whilst Warrington have yet to appear at a Grand Final.

The return of Ben Westwood is a massive boost to Tony Smith's side, but there has to be doubts over him being 100% fit, and it's not enough to justify the Wolves being made favourites for this.
Saints may have come up short in the last five Grand Finals, but they look the value in the outright market for this encounter, and can earn the chance to end their Old Trafford nightmare next month.

Recommended Bets

Back Wigan -12.5 points @ 1.9110/11
Back St Helens to beat Warrington in the outright market at 2.26/5