It’s a tale as old as time. St Helens v Leeds. Two teams who are defined by the success they achieve especially in the summer era. The two are Super League’s most successful sides with eight Super League titles each. But which side will take a step closer to their ninth? Will it be the reigning Champions St Helens as they look to emulate Leeds’ historic feat of winning three titles in a row or will the Rhinos secure their place in an unlikely 11th Grand Final.
The Saints welcome back the first-teamers that were rested in the final round defeat to Salford. Jonny Lomax is still available after returning against the Red Devils and will join Lewis Dodd in the halves forcing Jack Welsby to drop to the bench. Kristian Woolf’s wealth of forwards also means some will be left out. Youngster Jake Wingfield will likely be one of the unfortunate ones who won’t make the cut. Joe Batchelor meanwhile will likely be trusted to start maybe even ahead of Joel Thompson.
As for the Rhinos, the only place they have depth is in the middle of the park. Alex Mellor, after warming up ahead of last week’s win against Wigan, could return prompting the impressive James Donaldson to drop to the bench. Mikolaj Oledzki meanwhile will move from the bench back to the starting line-up having gotten up to speed last week. This means Bodene Thompson could miss out completely. In the backs, Richard Agar will likely keep things the same unless he wants to bring Jack Broadbent back into the fold to give Leeds something extra in attack.
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
14 Sione Mata’utia
20 Joe Batchelor
13 Morgan Knowles
Substitutes
11 Joel Thompson
15 Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook
17 Agnatius Paasi
18 Jack Welsby
Leeds
16 Richie Myler
24 Luke Briscoe
3 Harry Newman
2 Tom Briscoe
5 Ash Handley
6 Rob Lui
9 Kruise Leeming
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
14 Brad Dwyer
10 Matt Prior
11 Alex Mellor
12 Rhyse Martin
13 Zane Tetevano
Substitutes
4 Konrad Hurrell
17 Cameron Smith
18 Tom Holroyd
25 James Donaldson
