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 | 2pts double Catalan (-8) and Hull KR (scr) both 10/11 (Ladbrokes and Hills) | Dragons on fire and Rovers impressed in defeat last week |
I was thrilled with our opening round win over Salford, especially given the conditions. We should take our hat off to both the Castleford and City Reds players for being so coureagous in a very physical game.
We were quite surprised by how much skin was taken off a lot of the players through the snow and ice and I was very proud of my team's attitude and the way they went about their business.
We've had a very different preparation for Sunday's game against Bradford. We had two weeks to get ready for Salford and this week we haven't been able to train outside because of the weather.
We could have gone to some indoor centres but chose instead to spend the week working on our strength and sharpening up some key areas. It's been different and we hope the ball work we did in pre-season will stand us in good stead.
We have no injuries, everyone's fit, and I'm sure we'll be ready for a tough test against Bradford.
St Helens v Salford (+24)
I hope last week didn't take too much out of Salford, but this is a game St Helens have been looking forward to for a long, long time as they open their new stadium.
The players will be excited and can be too sharp for the visitors, especially with James Roby around the ruck area, he was outstanding at London last week Tony Puletua and Chris Flannery are also available again.
Salford only have one hooker going into the game with Wayne Godwin injured and the home side can enjoy a fantastic night at their new stadium.
Catalan v Hull (+10)
Hull will consider it a point lost at home to Warrington last week as they had numerous chances to win the game only to lose the ball near the final hooter and allow the Wolves to snatch a draw.
That said it was probably a good time to catch Warrington shortly after they returned from Australia and Catalan were very impressive in beating Bradford, as they had all pre-season.
They're big, strong and physical and can win and cover in a good contest. Scott Dureau is in outstanding form at half-back and he can engineer a victory for a side with genuine top four aspirations.
Wigan v Leeds (+4)
The Rhinos impressed me in pre-season, and last week in beating Hull KR. They look very sharp and on the mark as you'd expect with a World Club Challenge game looming large.
In contrast Wigan are looking very rusty in attack and are without George Carmont and Liam Farrell, who are both strong defenders. Leeds have a good record at Wigan and I'll go for them with the start - although it is a tight one to call.
Kallum Watkins could be he key and prove a real handful for Wigan's left-hand defence.
Huddersfield v Widnes (+22)
The biggest problem for the Giants is can they maintain the outstanding form they showed at Wigan last week with so many big players out? It's a tough call.
Widnes need to learn from the mistakes they made in the defeat to Wakefield last week and they're still missing some key men. That could be the key and I'll stick with Huddersfield to win and cover.
Warrington v London (+20)
The Broncos traditionally go well at this time of the year and they started nicely by putting 20 points on St Helens in the first round. They kept it very simple and were always in the game.
I felt Warrington looked a little underdone at Hull having had a rushed preparation coming back from Australia and were without a couple of key men. I expect them to improve enough to win and cover.
Wakefield (scr) v Hull KR (scr)
Hull KR don't have a great record at Wakefield and on top of that the Wildcats will take a lot of confidence from last week's win over Widnes. However they've lost Kyle Amor and he'll be missed in the front-row.
The visitors still have some key men out but I thought their performance was very good at Leeds, they really pushed the champions to the wire. That game was of a high quality and I'll take Hull KR to claim the two points.
