Hull KR host Castleford Tigers on Friday night, with one team having significantly fewer injury problems than the other.
For the home team, Hull KR have virtually a full-strength squad to pick from, with Sam Luckley returning following his wrist injury.
Head coach Willie Peters has said that while his squad has a couple of niggles, they’re fit enough for round 1 of the Super League season.
That means Rovers could give full debuts to five of their new signings, with Tom Davies, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Micky Mcllorum, Rhyse Martin and Bill Leyland all included in his 21-man squad.
For the away team, it’s a very different story.
Already without Rowan Milnes, Sam Hall and Louis Senior in pre-season, they’ve now added Alex Mellor and Jason Qareqare to their injury list, both with hamstring injuries.
However, head coach Danny McGuire does have new signings Zac Cini, Daejarn Asi, Jeremiah Simbiken, Judah Rimbu and Dan Okoro available.
The Tigers have also secured Ben Davies on loan from St Helens during the week and he goes straight into the squad.
Based on the 21-man squads and their latest injury news, here’s how we see Hull KR and Castleford Tigers will line up on Friday night.
Predicted Hull KR team
Hull KR XIII: Niall Evalds, Tom Davies, Peta Hiku, Oliver Gildart, Joe Burgess, Mikey Lewis, Tyrone May, Sauaso Sue, Mickey McIlorum, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Rhyse Martin, James Batchelor, Elliot Minchella.
Interchanges: Jez Litten, Dean Hadley, Sam Luckley, Jai Whitbread.
If this Hull KR squad can stay fit for the season, they’ll challenge at the top of the table.
Evalds gets the nod at fullback over Hiku as he’s shown it’s his best position in this Rovers team, with Hiku paired with Tom Davies on the wing.
Hiku was an elusive runner in their 44-2 win over York in the Challenge Cup so between the five in the backline, they should be able to help out their forwards.
Lewis and May are a given and their combination has been key to Rovers success recently.
Sue retains his place at prop and will hopefully celebrate his new one-year extension with a solid performance.
We’ve gone with Micky McIlorum as the starting hooker with Jez Litten on the bench, the same as last week.
Litten provided a much-needed lift to the side as he came off the bench so we expect him to have the same impact to a tiring Tigers’ side.
Rhyse Martin is an 80-minute second-rower so gets the spot over Dean Hadley, with props Luckley and Whitbread having the other two places.
Predicted Castleford Tigers team
Castleford XIII: Fletcher Rooney, Josh Simm, Zac Cini, Sam Wood, Innes Senior, Tex Hoy, Daejarn Asi, Liam Watts, Judah Rimbu, George Lawler, Jeremiah Simbiken, Joe Westerman, Liam Horne.
Interchanges: George Griffin, Muizz Mustapha, Sylvester Namo, Ben Davies.
Rooney looks set to continue at fullback after being one of the letter performers in their 18-16 loss to Bradford in the Challenge Cup last week.
Josh Simm and Tex Hoy remain on the wing and in the halves respectively in the absence of Qareqare and Milnes.
McGuire alluded to starting Rimbu at hooker and moving Liam Horne to loose forward so that’s what we’ve gone with too.
Westerman moves into the second-row, a position which he’s filled numerous times before.
We’ve gone for a very forward-heavy bench as their only backs available are inexperienced, with loanee Ben Davies coming into the side to make his debut.
This game can be seen on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports+ from 8pm on Friday.
