Betting on rugby league has never been more popular and the Super League Final is one of the biggest games of the year. The two best teams will do battle this Saturday night as the Castleford Tigers take on the Leeds Rhinos for the 2017 title. With the Rugby League World Cup just around the corner, playing well has never been more important for the players and Saturday’s final promises to be one of the most exciting finals of all time.
The Tigers have been the best team all year, but the Rhinos have hit form at the right time and they’re a dangerous side to play. Bookmakers have the Tigers as the slight favourites, but we look at which team will bring the goods on Saturday and which team represents the best betting value.
Castleford Tigers form
The Tigers were the best team throughout the regular season, but they only narrowly survived their semi-final against St Helens. The 3/10 favourites on that occasion scored a 23-22 win after St Helens scored two late tries to take it to overtime. The scare would have shaken up the Tigers side which hadn’t been put under much pressure during the season.
The result might have been because they rested their stars the week prior when losing to Hull by 16-48 and that rust might have played a factor, but for the most part their form has been exemplarily this campaign. They have played the Rhinos on four occasions in 2017, beating them on all four occasions and doing so in fine fashion. They won by 66-10 in the first meeting in March and 38-24 in their last meeting in September.
That will give them plenty of confidence heading into the final and with a team stacked full of talented locals and star imports, the Tigers look well-set to make a push for the title.
Castleford team line up:
- Zak Hardaker
- Greg Minikin
- Jake Webster
- Michael Shenton
- Greg Eden
- Luke Gale
- Andy Lynch
- Paul McShane
- Grant Millington
- Oliver Holmes
- Mike McMeeken
- Adam Milner
- Nathan Massey
- Jesse Sene-Lefao
- Ben Roberts
Leeds Rhinos form
The Leeds Rhinos might not have had success against the Tigers this season, but they’ve certainly hit top form at the right time. The Rhinos lost three of four games during a poor stretch in July and August, but since then they have lost only two games (Wakefield and Castleford). During that time, they have beaten St Helens, Huddersfield and Hull twice – including an 18-16 semi-final win last week. It might not have been the prettiest game of league, but they fought back gamely after leading in the first half and giving up that lead with 20 minutes to go. The fight back started with some gritty play from the halves and it’s that toughness which makes them a threat on Saturday. They will need to overturn a 14-point defeat to the Tigers four games back, but the Rhinos have arguably improved the most since that loss and they could be the fairytale result this season.
Leeds team line up:
- Carl Ablett
- Cory Aston
- Jordan Baldwinson
- Tom Briscoe
- Rob Burrow
- Adam Cuthbertson
- Brett Delaney
- Brett Ferres
- Keith Galloway
- Mitchell Garbutt
- Ashton Golding
- Ryan Hall
- Ash Handley
- Danny McGuire
- Joel Moon
Super League Final betting tip
It’s too tough to go against the Castleford Tigers and they deserve the title after being the best team throughout the season. The Tigers have dominated the Rhinos all season long and we don’t see any reason to start jumping ship now. Players such as Luke Gale and Ben Roberts add some spark to the game which the Rhinos will struggle to match and we think bookmakers are being relatively generous with their odds. We rated the Tigers as 3/10 chances so to get 53/100 with bet365.com is a good price and we also suggest taking them on the points spread market. They are currently –4.5 favourites (10/11) and we think they should win this game by at least 10 points.