Leeds to follow Challenge Cup win with Super 8s St Helens victory

After an exceptional win over Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final last time out, Leeds Rhinos’ attention turns back to the Super 8s as they aim to maintain their momentum with a victory over St Helens.

The West Yorkshire outfit are odds-on with Coral at 2/5 to secure the two points, with the terrific Tom Briscoe offered at 7/1 to score first. He was simply sensational at Wembley, getting into the record books. Having already scored the perfect hat-trick, which included a 90 metre sprint, as legend of the game Martin Offiah (known for this) looked on, he ran in two more tries to set a Challenge Cup final record of five.

Coach Brian McDermott singled out Stevie Ward, Carl Ablett and Adam Cuthbertson as unsung heroes of the day, as it was their hard-working defensive contribution that kept the Robins’ score at zero. They will be key for the remainder of the season, if they are to keep the likes of Saints’ attacking threats James Roby and Jordan Turner in check, who are 3/1 and 5/4 to score anytime respectively.

Saints suffered at the hands of Huddersfield Giants last time out, who defeated Keiron Cunningham’s side 28-22 and it will be an uphill task against the Rhinos, who have comprehensively beaten them twice already this season.

McDermott’s side scored more than 40 points each time, while keeping their opponents’ tallies below 20 with young winger Ash Handley scoring a hat-trick on both occasions. Unfortunately he is unavailable for the blue and ambers, though Ryan Hall, who collected a brace against them in July, is available at 7/1 in the first scorer market.

Kallum Watkins, who was one of the main reasons for Briscoe’s five-try haul at Wembley, and arguably one of the best centres in the world right now, also crashed over in the match at Headingley and is evens to do so again anytime.

Coral’s top tip: It’s hard to back against Briscoe picking up where he left off last time out, and will be looking to hit the ground running, with odds of 7/1 to score first.