St Helens v Leeds: Key battles in Super League opener
Thursday 9 February 2017 22:23, UK
Four months on from Wigan's Grand Final triumph, Super League returns this week as St Helens entertain Leeds Rhinos, live on Sky Sports.
It's Lancashire versus Yorkshire in the season-opening clash on Thursday, and a clash of two sides who went without a trophy last season.
So what does 2017 hold? Here's our first head-to-head of the season:
James Roby v Matt Parcell
Both sides have injury problems in the halves with new signing Matty Smith out with a broken leg for Saints, while Danny McGuire is a doubt for the Rhinos. So pressure will fall on the shoulders of both hookers to step up and provide direction around the park.
2016 saw a booming year for English hookers. With Daryl Clark and Danny Houghton impressing in Super League and Josh Hodgson in the NRL, James Roby is no longer the undisputed No 1 in the No 9 shirt on these shores.
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That is not to say the St Helens stalwart did not perform in the last campaign. He registered his usual fine array of statistics, 2544 metres at an average 7.71m a drive, 277 runs from dummy half (the best in Super League) and 1067 tackles, the third best in the competition.
Roby is central to Keiron Cunningham's plans. He is a machine in attack and defence, punishing sides with his vision and drive around the ruck. Tommy Lee will provide Roby with back-up this season, offering his coach the opportunity to rest the hooker perhaps more than in recent seasons. Watch out for him starting 2017 with a blinder.
Leeds would have wanted James Segeyaro wearing their No 9 jersey. As it is, they've got another man from the NRL, Matt Parcell, orchestrating things behind the ruck. He has got large shoes to fill, as Segeyaro's form was a big reason behind the Rhinos navigating their way through the Qualifiers with no real relegation scares at the end of the campaign.
Parcell comes with a decent reputation after signing from Manly. A hooker with pace, Parcell was tipped for future State of Origin selection after impressing in his 15 games for the Sea Eagles last season and fans in Australia responded with disappointment on social media after he was released from his contract.
Another Australian hooker, Beau Falloon, struggled to settle in West Yorkshire this time last year and didn't make it through the season. Will Parcell adapt quicker to English conditions and finally put the Segeyaro saga to bed once and for all?
Alex Walmsley v Adam Cuthbertson
Super League in February normally means a war of attrition up front with packs having to grind each other down in difficult playing conditions.
St Helens boast one of the biggest front rows in the competition. Alex Walmsley and Kyle Amor are no strangers to hard yards, while new signings Adam Walker and Luke Douglas will add a new dimension to their propping options this season.
Walmsley is perhaps the one with most to prove after being left out of England's Elite Performance Squad. That's despite registering 3691 metres last season, just 27m less than team-mate Amor who is included, while Walmsley made his metres at a better average per drive. He topped 4000 metres in 2015 and threw 52 offloads that season as well, so there's plenty to suggest he can feel aggrieved at missing out on a place in the EPS.
Cunningham will hope Walmsley will take his frustrations out on the Leeds pack. The Rhinos will certainly have to keep him quiet if they want to gain an upper hand in the forward battle.
There were plenty of Rhinos players who didn't hit their straps in 2016, a season after winning the treble. Adam Cuthbertson was certainly one of those, just a year on from a nomination for the Man of Steel award. He made just 1716 metres in 2016 at an average of 6.15 metres per drive in comparison to the 2015 season where Cuthbertson passed the 3000 metre mark.
One area of Cuthbertson's game where teams got wise to were his dangerous offloads. In 2015, Cuthbertson threw 125 offloads, nearly double the amount of anyone else in Super League. Last year, that figure fell to 48, albeit enough to rank him third best in the competition.
Cuthbertson's ability to get the ball away in the tackle played a key role in creating space for Leeds' dangerous outside backs in their treble-winning season. If he can get that side of his game firing on all cylinders again, then the Rhinos will go some way to repairing the damage done in 2016.
Tommy Makinson v Ryan Hall
There is lots of attacking flair on display in the backline on Thursday night and plenty of British talents strutting their stuff as well. None more so than two of the wingers who will come face-to-face down the touchline.
Tommy Makinson is back, fully fit and ready to roll after a knee injury on Easter Monday last season caused him to miss most of the campaign. The winger, on his day, is one of the best finishers in the competition.
While Denny Solomona made the flying finish his trademark in his record-breaking 2016, the former Tiger is long gone from the sport and Makinson has the chance to reclaim that crown back.
Capable of the sublime out on the touchline, opposite wingers can't allow Makinson any space to work his magic. He top-scored for the Saints in 2014 with 25 tries, including a match-clincher in the win over Wigan at Old Trafford, before following that up with 16 tries in 2015.
Makinson should pass that number with ease if he stays fit in 2017, especially playing outside new signing Ryan Morgan, a centre from the NRL.
Injuries ravaged the Saints outside backs last year. Will Makinson be able to make up for it this time round?
It's Ryan Hall's testimonial season at Headingley and it's hard to believe the powerful winger has been bashing through Super League defences for 10 seasons, but he's well and truly part of the Rhinos furniture now.
Unfortunately that meant Hall, like the majority of his teammates, struggled to find his best form in 2016. He scored just four tries, comfortably his worst tally since breaking into the side a decade ago.
The rest of his game suffered too, he made less metres than normal, gaining less on average every drive as well, a key asset in his game and also in the Rhinos attack, although the winger did spend a large chunk of the season on the sidelines injured.
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But let's remember Hall is England's record try scorer, boasting an incredible 31 from 31 internationals. He played in all three Four Nations games, scoring in every match too, despite his indifferent season for the Rhinos.
Expect Hall, and his Leeds side, to be much sharper in 2017.
