Super League: Talking points and team news for Saturday and Sunday’s games | Rugby League News

Jacob Miller returns to Wakefield’s squad for the trip to Warrington

We take a look at what is being said and team news ahead of the remaining matches in Round 6 of the Betfred Super League season on Saturday and Sunday…

Warrington Wolves vs Wakefield Trinity (Saturday, 12.30pm)

Daryl Powell is excited by what Billy Magoulias will bring to Warrington’s team when he is finally able to make his debut after moving from the NRL in the off-season.

The former Cronulla Sharks back row has missed the first five rounds of the 2022 Super League season due to an ankle injury but has been named in Powell’s 21-man squad for the visit of Wakefield.

Head coach Powell admitted it will be a late call on whether Magoulias features in Saturday’s match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium but expects the Greece international to be a valuable addition whenever he makes his bow.

“Billy has worked hard, he’s a good kid, a good player,” Powell said. “I’m expecting Billy to be outstanding when we get him in there.

“I like what I’ve seen from him in training. He’s skilful, he’s a little bit different to what you usually get. He’s more of a British style loose-forward with his skill set.”

As well as Magoulias being included in the Wolves squad for the first time as they aim to bounce back from losing 28-2 to St Helens, Matt Davis returns from suspension. However, Josh Charnley serves the final game of his two-match ban.

Wakefield are boosted by the return of influential captain Jacob Miller, having picked up their first win of the season last week when they beat Toulouse Olympique 18-6 at Be Well Support Stadium, and head coach Willie Poching was pleased to see his side show character in that win.

“Once we got going you could just sense that we were playing within ourselves and conditions played a part on that tonight and it was not conducive to expansive football,” Poching said.

“We came unstuck a couple of times in the first half, going in to touch and on the back of nine penalty counts and too many errors which we had to address and the response was fantastic.”

Named squads

Warrington Wolves: Matty Ashton, Rob Butler, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Jack Darbyshire, Matt Davis, Riley Dean, Oliver Holmes, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Ellis Longstaff, Billy Magoulias, Peter Mata’utia, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop, George Williams.

Wakefield Trinity: Tom Johnstone, Reece Lyne, Jacob Miller, Mason Lino, Eddie Battye, Liam Hood, Tinirau Arona, Matty Ashurst, Kelepi Tanginoa, Jay Pitts, Jordy Crowther, Jai Whitbread, James Batchelor, Liam Kay, Jack Croft, Brad Walker, Yusuf Aydin, Harry Bowes, Corey Hall, Morgan Escare, David Fifita.

Toulouse Olympique vs St Helens (Saturday, 5pm GMT)

Kristian Woolf has warned his St Helens side Toulouse will go into Saturday evening’s clash with the reigning champions playing like they have nothing to lose.

The top-versus-bottom clash at Stade Ernest Wallon sees Saints aiming to make it six wins from six, while the home side are still looking for their first win since being promoted to Super League.

Last year’s Grand Final winners travel to France with Alex Walmsley, Sione Mata’utia and Joe Batchelor injured, and Will Hopoate not picked after picking up a knock on training, but head coach Woolf has made it clear he does not want to see any drop in standards.

“They will approach it that way and they have nothing to lose,” Woolf said. “It is really up to us to go over and be ourselves and maintain our standards.

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between St Helens and Warrington Wolves.

“We have set a really good platform over the first five rounds, playing at a high level in every game. What we need to do is be a bit better – we will have some disruption but that does not change us improving.”

Saints do, however, have Konrad Hurrell back after serving a one-game suspension, with Dan Norman also recalled from Leigh Centurions.

It is an onerous task for Toulouse, but head coach Sylvain Houles is maintaining a positive outlook going into the game after last week’s loss at Wakefield.

“You can’t blame the effort,” Houles said. “I thought the boys defended really hard and very well but after that we didn’t get any territorial positions and it’s hard to score tries when you don’t go down their end.

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Wakefield Trinity and Toulouse Olympique.

“There’s still 22 games to play, 44 points so there’s a long way to go, it’s a long season so we’re confident, I like what the players are doing, and fighting for each other.”

Named squads

Toulouse Olympique: Paul Marcon, Lucas Albert, Romain Navarrete, Harrison Hansen, Andrew Dixon, Dominique Peyroux, Anthony Marion, Eloi Pelissier, Maxime Puech, Joe Bretherton, Joseph Paulo, Mitch Garbutt, Ilias Bergal, Chris Hankinson, Justin Sangare, Guy Armitage, Matty Russell, Hugo Pezet, Olly Ashall-Bott, Maxime Stefani, Tony Gigot.

St Helens: Jack Welsby, Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, James Roby, Matty Lees, Morgan Knowles, Joey Lussick, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Curtis Sironen, Agnatius Paasi, Kyle Amor, Jake Wingfield, Josh Simm, Ben Davies, Konrad Hurrell, Dan Norman, Sam Royle, Jon Bennison, Lewis Baxter.

Hull FC vs Huddersfield Giants (Sunday, 3pm)

Brett Hodgson is hoping to see Hull FC keep raising their performance levels as they welcome Huddersfield Giants to the MKM Stadium on the back of a statement win over Leeds Rhinos.

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC.

A Jake Connor-inspired Black and Whites recorded a 31-8 win against the Rhinos at Headingley in Round 5, with head coach Hodgson impressed with what he saw from his team.

He knows they will need more of the same if they are to overcome a Huddersfield side sitting fourth in the table after a 36-24 win over Castleford Tigers.

“We needed to right the previous week’s performance and we need to keep doing that,” Hodgson said. “That performance was probably the best since I’ve been at the club.”

Manu Ma’u is included in Hodgson’s 21-man squad for first time this season, while Jordan Lane and recent signing Denive Balmforth are included too. However, Kane Evans suspended, and Jamie Shaul is injured, while Joe Cator has been ruled out long-term following the injury suffered against Leeds.

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Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers.

Meanwhile, Huddersfield’s Jermaine McGillvary is set to make 350th career appearance, while Nathan Mason included in a Giants squad for first time this year, and head coach Ian Watson has cautioned against his side dropping off in the second half again.

“Castleford need a bit of credit,” Watson said. “They upped it and brought it to us at the start of the second half.

“We dropped off and made errors to put ourselves under pressure and Cas capitalised when we went down to 12 men [due to yellow cards].”

Named squads

Hull FC: Jake Connor, Adam Swift, Josh Griffin, Ligi Sao, Danny Houghton, Chris Satae, Andre Savelio, Manu Ma’u, Jordan Lane, Joe Lovodua, Brad Fash, Ben McNamara, Jack Brown, Jordan Johnstone, Josh Bowden, Connor Wynne, Mitieli Vulikijapani, Aidan Burrell, Charlie Severs, Harvey Barrow, Denive Balmforth.

Huddersfield Giants: Will Pryce, Jermaine McGillvary, Ricky Leutele, Ashton Golding, Tui Lolohea, Chris Hill, Danny Levi, Michael Lawrence, Chris McQueen, Luke Yates, Matty English, Joe Greenwood, Owen Trout, Adam O’Brien, Oliver Wilson, Leroy Cudjoe, Innes Senior, Olly Russell, Oliver Roberts, Louis Senior, Nathan Mason.