Widnes move top as Leeds and Huddersfield remain winless
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Not many would have predicted that last year’s Grand Final winners Leeds Rhinos and semi-finalists Huddersfield Giants would be sitting joint-bottom of Super League after three rounds.
But, that’s exactly what has happened, as three defeats from their first three games has seen Leeds and Huddersfield rooted to the bottom of the table, while it is Widnes – who failed to make the top eight last year – sitting pretty at the top of the tree.
Injuries to key players have hit Leeds and Huddersfield hard, and while the Rhinos put up a brave fight against Catalans at the weekend, going down 32-28 in an entertaining clash in the South of France, the Giants were less impressive as they fell 36-18 at home to Widnes, with their former captain Kevin Brown coming back to haunt them with an inspired performance that helped move the Vikings to the top of the table.
The latest round of Super League action started on Thursday with Hull FC and Castleford meeting at the KC Stadium, and it was the Tigers who came out on top in a thrilling encounter, with lightning winger Denny Solomona scoring a hat-trick to move top of the try-scoring charts (where he is now tied with Widnes’ Corey Thompson).
Across the Pennines, Wigan were made to work extremely hard to maintain their 100% league record in a 20-16 win over Salford Red Devils. They needed a Dom Manfredi try four minutes from time to claim the two points after Salford had come from 16-2 down to level the scores.
Friday’s televised game saw St Helens break their winless streak at Hull KR with a 31-22 win. Saints hadn’t won a game at the KC Lightstream Stadium since 2008 before Friday, and had to come from 16-10 down at the break to end that run.
Elsewhere, Warrington’s 100% start to the season continued on Friday night with a 34-16 win over Wakefield Wildcats, with Ben Currie and Chris Sandow both claiming a brace of tries in a win that moved them top before being leapfrogged by local rivals Widnes on Sunday afternoon.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
