Will St Helens be as devastating under new coach Kristian Woolf as they were under Justin Holbrook?
That’s the question that all rugby league fans will be asking themselves ahead of Super League XXV.
Saints won the Regular Season and Leader’s Shield by 16 points last year and went on to make short work of Salford Red Devils in the Grand Final with their only blemish coming with a below-par performance in the Challenge Cup Final.
Holbrook has now departed to take up an appointment with Gold Coast Titans with the former Tonga coach Woolf, another Australian, taking over the reins.
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ST HELENS are a best 5/2 with Unibet to head the standings at the end of the Regular Season again. It looks will rely on the same group of players as last season as they haven’t made a single major signing over the winter. Theo Fages, Regan Grace and Jack Welsby will again be key players and Saints are the team to beat if they don’t allow complacency to affect performances. Woolf favours a similar brand of entertaining rugby to Holbrook so the transition should be a smooth one.
Super League Regular Season XXV Best Odds*
St Helens 5/2
Wigan Warriors 3/1
Warrington Wolves 4/1
Hull FC and Leeds Rhinos 12/1
Castleford Tigers and Catalan Dragons 20/1
Tornoto Wolfpack 40/1
Salford Red Devils 50/1
Wakefield Trinity 66/1
Huddersfield Giants and Hull KR 80/1
(*Odds correct at 12.15pm 20 January)
WIGAN WARRIORS lost 11 matches in the Regular Season in 2019 so it was no surprise that they were left well behind by the Saints.
Coach Adrian Lam will be demanding more consistency from his squad this year and has added the likes of Jackson Hastings, George Burgess and Mitch Clark. But it may take a while for the disappointment of their play-off campaign to be flushed through the system (they lost heavily against the Saints and the Red Devils).
Better is expected but general odds of 3/1 offer little leeway for bet or lay.
Wolves hungry for more success this year
Wolves hungry for more success this yearThere is probably more value in backing WARRINGTON WOLVES at a best 4/1
The Wolves only finished fourth last season but showed what they were capable in flashes and completely stifled St Helens in the Challenge Cup Final.
Gareth Widdop could be a huge signing and will team up with Blake Austin once the latter is fit. That is potentially the most exciting half-back pairing in world rugby.
Samy Kibula adds additional power and weight to the pack and they’ve picked up Anthony Gelling to provide the X factor. Keanan Brand and Matty Ashton were top players in the Championship last year and both have the potential to go to the top in Super League. Steve Price’s outfit are looking good ahead of the new campaign.
HULL FC look stronger than last year for the addition of Manu Ma’u and Josh Jones. Mahe Fonua is fit again but it would still be a surprise were they break into the top four.
They can be backed at 12/1 with Unibet to win the Regular Season, the same odds as LEEDS RHINOS (Bet365). After recent struggles, most Rhinos fans would probably settle for mid-table mediocrity and that’s also the case with most of the others.
SALFORD CITY REDS are 50/1 to win the Leaders’s Shield with Boylesports having made unlikely progress to last year’s Grand Final but will have to prove themselves all over again with a much-changed line-up.
Giants may find themselves cut down to size
HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS might end up with the wooden spoon this year as HULL KR always seem to pick up a win or two at Craven Park when the chips are down.
