St Helens v Castleford: Predicted line-ups and late injury news

In a rematch of the Challenge Cup Final, St Helens host Castleford and if it’s as good as their Wembley battle it should be quite the contest. Castleford come into the game with renewed top six hopes after victory at Headingley whilst St Helens are well in the hunt for the League Leaders’ Shield following their win over Catalans.

I can see St Helens making very few changes ahead of this contest. That said, the return of Leeds bound second-row James Bentley and prop Matty Lees as well as the absence of Morgan Knowles should prompt a slight shake up of the pack. Initially I thought Bentley was unlikely to play but Kristian Woolf confirmed he’d get some minutes. This, I think, means that Joe Batchelor could miss out despite his fine form. It also means we could see Sione Mata’utia start at second row with Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook at loose forward whilst Matty Lees starts at prop so that Bentley isn’t forced to start.

A similar philosophy may be adopted by Daryl Powell after all he won’t want to change a winning formula. Thus, I can see Jordan Turner and Greg Eden remaining on the left side of the attack. However, there’ll be one or two changes after all Alex Foster is absent whilst Jimmy Keinhorst has returned to Hull KR after his loan spell at the Jungle. Thus, Liam Watts could return to the bench as could the impressive George Griffin. The bigger question may end up being who misses out.

St Helens
1 Lachlan Coote
2 Tommy Makinson
3 Kevin Naiqama
4 Mark Percival
5 Regan Grace
6 Jonny Lomax
21 Lewis Dodd
8 Alex Walmsley
9 James Roby
10 Matty Lees
11 Joel Thompson
14 Sione Mata’utia
15 Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Substitutes
12 James Bentley
16 Kyle Amor
17 Agnatius Paasi
18 Jack Welsby

Castleford
1 Niall Evalds
2 Derrell Olpherts
3 Peter Mata’utia
25 Jordan Turner
23 Greg Eden
31 Gareth O’Brien
7 Danny Richardsob
22 Daniel Smith
9 Paul McShane
10 Grant Millington
11 Oliver Holmes
21 Jesse Sene-Lefao
14 Nathan Massey
Substitutes
8 Liam Watts
13 Adam Milner
15 George Griffin
19 Tyla Hepi