Ahead of tonight’s game, our expert fans from St Helens and Hull FC, RedVee’s Dave Lyon and Sarah Mackenzie, share their thoughts on the match.
It was an excellent Easter all round for the two teams, you must both be feeling confident going into this one?
DL: At the moment how can we not be? eight wins out of nine, and even in the game against Leeds where we threw in our worst performance, we still had chances to win. Defensively we’re sound and at that level of performance not many sides will be able to score enough points to beat us. At the moment I don’t think I’ve seen us put together a great 80 minutes in attack and when we do we’ll absolutely demolish somebody.
SM: Back to back wins over Easter was great and with key players back it does make this game feel more achievable and I am more confident than I would have been. However, Saints are a team on fire this season so it’s not going to be easy.
Given the back-to-back wins, does it take pressure off in this game, or is it of equal importance?
DL: Every game (bar Good Friday) is of equal importance, and that shows in the lack of Holbrook’s squad rotation. He’s been ruthless in relying on a core of 18 players, and that shows the importance attached to getting a healthy sum of points on the board early in the season, which means the pressure is off come the Super 8s. Top spot is nice, but it means nothing unless you win at Old Trafford, and to that end, a top two finish and a home semi is of greatest importance.
SM: I think the back to back wins takes the pressure off us considerably. To come out of the three matches over Easter with four points would be very good. To get the six would be amazing especially given the opposition.
What have you made to the other team so far?
DL: From what I’ve seen of Hull they’ve underperformed and not really reached people’s pre-season expectations. The wins they have had appear to be scrappy, and you never know which side of them you’ll see week to week. That said I can’t remember many easy games against them over the last few years and Lee Radford always sets up well against us.
SM: It’s not hard to describe Saints so far this season. They were widely tipped pre-season to do well and they haven’t disappointed yet. Admittedly I don’t think they have hit any great injury adversity yet but they are looking good.
In your eyes, which player do we need to watch out for?
DL: An obvious one but Marc Sneyd. Capable of kicking teams into submission, and of course if it’s a tight one, that booming drop goal capability.
SM: A tricky one. Our two centres Griffin and Tuimivave are looking very good at the moment but Jez Litten got his first game on Monday and really transformed the team. I don’t know whether Radford will opt to have two hookers in his team but if he does then definitely look out for Litten’s scooting, passing and tackling. A very bright future for this young lad.
Score prediction?
DL: I think it’s been an Easter that has seen Hull have to work harder than Saints – winning with 12 away at Hull KR, then narrowly scraping past Wakefield in poor conditions. Saints had the luxury of taking their foot off the gas on Monday and preserving energy, and with it being the third match in a week, I’ll take Saints 28-12.
SM: Saints 18-19 Hull FC
