Team of the Week: Two teams dominate

Another big weekend weekend of Super League has been and gone with Warrington Wolves and Hull FC colliding, Wigan Warriors heading over to France for a huge fixture and Leeds Rhinos over to Huddersfield Giants for a huge derby.

Warrington down Hull FC to take a huge step towards the play-offs and Wigan laid down a marker at the expense of Catalans.

Then on Sunday, Leeds suffered a gutting defeat to Huddersfield.

The action though started on Friday night. On Sky Sports we saw a huge clash between Hull KR and Leigh Leopards in a Challenge Cup Final rematch.

Hull KR had lost to Leigh three times this season including in golden point at Wembley in heart breaking fashion.

This was a must win game for the Robins against the fourth place Leopards and they laid down a huge marker battering Leigh 52-10 with Ryan Hall, Mikey Lewis and Shaun Kenny-Dowall all starring.

Elsewhere, Super League and World Champions St Helens stormed to victory over Castleford Tigers.

They led 30-0 at halftime before going on to secure a 34-4 win over the Tigers who were much more competitive in the second half.

The defeat wasn’t as detrimental as Cas may have feared with Wakefield also beaten and nilled by Salford Red Devils as Ryan Brierley impressed for Paul Rowley’s side.

But who makes the team of the week?

Fullback: Ryan Brierley

Salford’s return to form has been heavily influence by Ryan Brierley’s return to the scoresheet with the full-back impressing once again and scoring two as the Red Devils nilled Wakefield.

Wingers: Abbas Miski and Ryan Hall

Abbas Miski has gone to the next level form wise and he registered another hattrick this week as Wigan beat Catalans. He’s still a long way from Ryan Hall’s Super League tally with the veteran scoring twice and dominating Leigh on Friday night.

Centres: Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Toby King

He might be retiring next year but many Rovers fans will be wanting SKD to stay on as he’s in brilliant form, the powerful centre scored and was key to winger Hall’s success. As for King he also benefitted from and helped out his winger Miski, picking up an easy try in Wigan’s dominant victory.

Halfbacks: Bevan French and Mikey Lewis

Copy and paste the above comments. Whilst the wingers and centres for Rovers and Wigan shone, it was in their halves that the play started with both Bevan French and Mikey Lewis controlling the game for their respective sides, French picking up one try whilst Lewis crossed over for one either side of halftime.

Props: George King and Liam Byrne

Both men were bloodied but both were dominant up front and set the tone for their team’s huge victories. King was afforded a rest but he got the Robins rolling, whereas Byrne seemed like a man on a mission  through till minute 80 when he was still nailing Catalans players.

Hooker: Moses Mbye

One of just a few players in this team that didn’t feature for either Hull KR or Wigan, however any of Matt Parcell, Jez Litten or Brad O’Neill could’ve found themselves here. Instead it’s Moses Mbye who is finding his feet for St Helens and was key to victory over Castleford.

Second-Row: Chris McQueen and Kai Pearce-Paul

Chris McQueen shone on his 250th career appearance helping the Giants win the battle of the middles and subsequently the game. Kai Pearce-Paul was another standout for Wigan and he put in a performance that would explain why he’s headed to the NRL, the youngster forcing plenty of errors through his industrious effort.

Loose-Forward: Elliot Minchella

Elliot Minchella saw yellow in the Challenge Cup Final against Leigh and in his first game since then he absolutely dominated the Leopards. The ball playing thirteen was involved in almost everything that was positive for the Robins, linking well with Brad Schneider and getting himself on the scoresheet as well. A performance that will have caught the attention of Shaun Wane potentially?