Labrador

Whilst Castleford should arguably tighten up somewhat after last week's Challenge Cup drubbing by Wigan, they could easily get tonked again with Wigan's star backs having another field day. The one bit of value for me was Jake Wardle at 20/21 with Bet 365.

Might be worth a bet on Gloucester's no. 8, Zach Mercer to score v Ospreys in tonight's Challenge Cup quarter final. Has scored the first match try in 2 of his last 3 outings (against Castres and Leicester). 7/2 with skybet.

With the rain set to hold off I think it's worth looking to see if there are any value Hull KR tryscorer bets against hapless London Broncos. I have been impressed with the recent performances of Tyrone May and Elliott Minchella. Either player can be backed at 9/4, and those lucky enough to be able to get on Sporting Index or Spreadex fixed odds markets can get 3/1 about Minchella.

Salford v Leigh looks set to be an attacking and potentially close match. With Marc Sneyd on the pitch it's usually worth looking at the price for a successful drop goal to be kicked. Best I can find is 4/1 (Bet 365).

In tonight's clash at Salford I've dutched 3 Wigan forwards to win just over £100 if one of them scores: Brad O'Neill (9/1), Patrick Mago (12/1) and Liam Byrne (16/1). O'Neill is hooker and dummy half, Mago and Byrne are props. Mago scored last week and seemed extremely unlucky to be denied another when the video ref was not even called upon (would surely have seen a legitimate touchdown). Byrne returns tonight from injury and should be raring to make an impact. [Be lovely if two of them score].

Despite a low-scoring 12-4 loss to St Helens last week there were times when Leigh's fluency towards Charnley's left wing started to show. They were without Ipape and Asiata then too, so there could be more of the same in better conditions and in front of a home crowd tonight. In those moves for me it was Ricky Leutele who stood out, making 3 or 4 decent half breaks. I think he's worth a punt to score this evening. Best price is 3/1.

Warrington took a long time to start firing against Hull FC last week. They are still without George Williams, and i can see them taking a while to impose themselves against Castleford. With another heavy pitch in prospect I have had an ultra-safe (I hope) play on backing under 43.5 match points at 4/6 (skybet).

If he plays Moses Mbye looks big at 12/1 (Hills) for Saints at Huddersfield. Problem is that he might only get on for a token 10 or 15 mins at the end, and bet would stand if he takes any part - however miniscule. [Have 56 PENCE riding )

Haven't used the spreads for a while🙃. My only bet tonight is Walker. For me potential tryscorers at decent prices for Catalan Dragons are Theo Fages (100/30) and Jordan Dezaria (7/1). Rain should have stopped by kick-off time, but AFC Wimbledon's pitch should be quite soft and, like last night's game, should make things a bit harder for Catalan to impose.

There are already big movements on the handicap for Warrington against Hull FC on Friday. Hull are decimated by injuries and suspensions. In particular they will be without hooker Danny Houghton. This attracts me to a tryscorer bet on Warrington's hooker, Danny Walker. Walker is now first choice no. 9 at Warrington following the move of Daryl Clark to St Helens. He is available at 11/4 with Hills and skybet. I suspect that price will contract sharply.

Nice debut from Daryl Clark who also scored, along with Walmsley, Welsby and Makinson from my shortlist. Handicap easily overcome by Saints🏉😃. Well done with Charnley, Briscoe and Handley, Harry👍.

Best value I can find for a St Helens tryscorer is hooker Daryl Clark (11/4 Bet 365). Obviously on his home debut he will be ultra keen to impress in having to follow in the boots of James Roby. Clark did cross in the recent friendly against Salford and is bound to make runs from dummy half, hopefully from close to the Broncos' line. Other obvious forwards to score are Alex Walmsley and James Bell. The weather is likely to be better than I first read so I'm sure the backs will have loads of chances, in particular Jack Welsby and Tommy Makinson. However, the prices on these guys don't really appeal, so I'll just stick with Daryl Clark.

The weather is set to be pretty lousy but hopefully that won't scupper Saints racking up a few tries. I'll be keeping an eye open for the tryscorer markets to see how the Saints forwards are priced up.

Ironically tonight's game at Solihull Moors has just been postponed due to waterlogged pitch!

Cheers - five 2nd half missed conversions didn't help the cause but enough tries scored to end with a 50-6 Swinton victory.