Warrington Wolves vs Hull KR Prediction: Broadbent to come up trumps again
In a fortnight, Warrington Wolves will face Hull KR in the Betfred Challenge Cup final, and the sides get the chance to strike an early psychological blow when they meet on Friday night (20:00, Sky Sports Action) in Super League at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Wolves really need a league win too, having lost badly at Wakefield last week to languish in ninth, a full 10 points behind leaders Hull KR. Below are my Warrington Wolves vs Hull KR predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.
Warrington Wolves vs Hull KR Betting Tips
*odds correct at the time of publication
Team News
Wire boss Sam Burgess has had some bad injuries to deal with of late, with leading try scorer Matty Ashton ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury that will see him miss the Challenge Cup final and Ashes series between England and Australia in the autumn.
Captain George Williams remains out with the ankle injury that is also likely to see him miss Wembley, while the latest casualties are key forward Paul Vaughan and centre Tony King.
Zack Gardner drops out of the squad too, but there is a return for winger Josh Thewlis, who missed out last week through HIA protocols, while youngsters Tom Whitehead and Ben Harthill are also added to the squad.
Robins boss Willie Peters makes one change to his squad, and it is enforced. Forward Jared Waerea-Hargreaves serves the first of a two-match ban for a high shot on Huddersfield's Matty English. The good news for KR is that Waerea-Hargreaves will be clear to play at Wembley in two weeks.
Lee Kershaw is the man drafted into the 21-man squad, which includes Bill Leyland despite his ankle injury picked up last week.
Warrington Wolves vs Hull KR Odds
Wire are 12/5 to triumph on Friday, implying a 29.4% probability of success, while Hull are 1/3, and the draw is priced at 18/1.
Handicap 3-way Alternative 1: Hull KR -12 @ 6/4
The cup semi-final aside, Warrington are on a bad little run and I struggle to see it getting any better this week. Injuries, plus speculation linking head coach Sam Burgess with roles in the NRL, are all contributing to a challenging situation at the Halliwell Jones, and ninth spot in Super League was certainly not on the menu 11 games into the campaign.
I would expect Rovers to outclass Warrington, even on home soil, and the Wolves will have to start strong and fast to try and keep this one interesting.
I think the eight-point handicap is actually pretty generous to Warrington and I can see the visitors winning by a little more than that. Marc Sneyd is doing a pretty decent job in covering the absence of Williams in the halves, but I fear the loss of top scorer Ashton and main prop Vaughan will be too much for Warrington to cope with here.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
Anytime Tryscorer - Jack Broadbent (HKR) @ 5/4
There should be plenty of opportunities for Rovers, and Joe Burgess, Mikey Lewis and Tom Davies will all be popular scorer selections.
For Warrington, Matt Dufty plus youngsters Thewlis and Aaron Lindop appear to hold the main attacking threat.
I'm sticking with my trusty Rovers selection though in Jack Broadbent, whose eye for a try has seen us hit more than miss in this column this season.
Don't forget, we are offering Super League Double Delight - so if you back a player to score the first try and he goes on to score again, then we will double your first tryscorer price!
Odds correct at time of publishing.
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