Magic Weekend Day 1 – Betting Review

Toronto open magic weekend against Toulouse,  and the Wolfpack will look to improve discipline after a poor showing at Warrington in the cup last week.
The Trans Atlantic side should land odds of 2/5 to win this and I think they can do this by more than the 8 point handicap, a Toulouse win is available at around 9/4.

The 1st Super League game could be a very one sided affair as St Helens play Widnes.
The Vikings get a massive 22 point start on the handicap as they take on the league leaders who’ve only lost twice this season.

On current form it’s impossible to make a case for a 10/1 shock Widnes win but they did give Leeds a real game in the cup last week and I think they can keep the Saints inside 4 scores. A Saints win by around 11-15 is where I see this ending up, magic often can be a good leveller,  these 2 played each other on Easter Monday with Saints winning by 22 but I think the Vikings are more than capable of scoring a few tries in what could be an entertaining opener.
There’s usually no surprises on man of the match picks at magic and the bookies know this by only offering 2/1 for Barba, in what could be a high scoring game he will get plenty chance to show his array of skills and is very hard to oppose, Percival has claims at 12/1 but it has to be Barba.

Punters looking for value could do worse than Scarsbrook anytime at around 7/2, he’s always a threat close to the opposition line and Saints should be spending plenty of time there.

2nd game sees Wigan take on Warrington, the quality on show should be alot better than last year’s draw as both teams were struggling back then. Things are different now with Wigan 2nd and Warrington on a run of 10 wins in a row. The signing of Josh Charnley has revitalised the Wolves and it would be no surprise to see the former Warrior open the scoring at 11/1 against his old club. Liam Marshall scored a hat trick on debut against Warrington last year and he will be popular at 10/1.
Bookies make this as close as I do with Wigan marginal 8/11 favourites.

The Warriors magic weekend form is second to none and that may just tip the balance in their favour, they are unbeaten at magic this decade. Both look very solid and this game could tell us which of the 2 sides look best placed to challenge St Helens.
The Wolves winning run has to come to an end soon and I think Wigan may just win a very tight game by 6-10 points.
All the talk has been of Sam Tomkins this week and he looks the man of the match value at 7/1, Daryl Clark has looked the best hooker in Super League this year and would be my pick in Primrose and Blue at 12/1.

Final game sees Leeds take on Castleford, both sides are trying to hang onto the 3 North West clubs above them, and a defeat here would leave either with alot to do to catch them.

Again it’s no surprise bookies have this very close, the Tigers won the league game by a point, both sides have had it tough with  injuries this year but whilst the Rhinos slowly start getting players back the Tigers will be without the likes of Gale and Eden for this one.
This may just tip the balance in favour of the Rhinos who can be backed at about 8/13 with Daryl Powell’s Tigers around 13/8. It could go either way though and I can’t see more in a try in it, Leeds probably need the win more after 4 defeats in their last 5 League games, Cas have won 3 of their last 5,  where a defeat would leave Leeds 3 points behind Cas who also have a game in hand.
It should be a great game to end day one,  I can’t split them but if pushed would just favour the Rhinos by 1-5 points.

Man of the match betting is wide open with Joel Moon favour at 8/1 followed by Paul Mcshane at 9/1.
This could be the stage for Richie Myler though and he would be my pick at 10/1 with Tigers captain Shenton at 20/1.

Enjoy the day and please as always gamble responsibly.