Home is where the heart is
A party atmosphere will be guaranteed at St Helens’ brand new Langtree Park stadium on Friday evening, with Royce Simmons’ men well set to make it two out of two in Super League with a win over Salford (St Helens 1/20 draw 33/1 Salford 8/1 90 minute match betting).
The £30million 18,000 capacity state-of-the-art stadium will host its first ever Super League encounter, as Saints look to continue the momentum gained from their impressive come-from-behind 34-24 win over London Broncos at the Stoop last weekend.
Simmons acknowledged that the win over the Broncos provided plenty of excitement, but he has called on his defence to be more miserly going forward if they are to go one better than last season and win the Grand final (St Helens 3/1 to win the 2012 Grand final).
“We are fully aware other teams will be coming here and will enjoy the facilities and will up their game,” the 51-year-old told the club’s official website.
“The crowd will help us if we turn up ready to play but they aren’t going to jump into the field and help us score a try or make a saving tackle.
“We need to play pretty stingy football. That means scoring a few points and being tight in defence and not letting them have much possession. If it’s 32-28 every week and some weeks you don’t win then it isn’t a fortress. We need strong wins. When we do that, we can develop that fortress.”
Salford meanwhile will be keen to play the role of party poopers after they suffered a defeat in their first ever competitive game at their new Salford City Stadium last weekend.
Phil Veivers’ men fell 24-10 to Castleford last Saturday, and are tipped to struggle this season, though assessing the game is difficult given it was played in treacherous wintery conditions (Salford 4/1 to finish bottom of Super League).
They may be buoyed by the fact they will not be playing St Helens at their former Knowsley Road home.
They never won a Super League match at the old ground and head to Langtree Park hoping to win away at Saints for the first time in 27 attempts, a dismal run stretching back to 1980.
For that reason and despite the new ground it is hard to look beyond a home win in this one, with the value bet being a 21-25 point Saints win priced at 5/1.
Former England winger Ade Gardner is set to replace the influential Jamie Foster, who is out with a thigh injury. Gardner is priced at 7/1 to go over first.
Saints will also be without Mark Flanagan with a chest injury but forward Tony Puletua and back-rower Chris Flannery are available. Gary Wheeler continues to deputise for injured England centre Michael Shenton.
For Salford, hooker Wayne Godwin and centre Sean Gleeson are both ruled out through injury with Stuart Howarth is set to deputise at hooker with forward Shannon McPherson coming in for Gleeson.
