Super League: Thursday's talking points and team news
Watch Hull KR vs Wigan Warriors (6pm) followed by Salford Red Devils vs Castleford Tigers (8.15pm) live on Sky Sports Mix (Sky channel 416) on Thursday
Thursday 3 September 2020 20:49, UK
Round 11 of the 2020 Super League season gets underway at Emerald Headingley on Thursday evening, albeit just as a double-header following the postponement of Wakefield Trinity's match against Leeds Rhinos.
The action kicks off at 5.55pm on Sky Sports Mix (Sky channel 416) with Hull Kingston Rovers against Wigan Warriors, with the clash between Salford Red Devils and Castleford Tigers following on at 8.15pm.
Here, we take a look at some talking points and team news ahead of those encounters…
Evalds up against future team-mates
Earlier this week, the news broke Castleford had completed their long-rumoured pursuit of Salford full-back Niall Evalds, who will join the club on an initial one-year deal in 2021.
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The 27-year-old has emerged as one of the stars of the Red Devils team under Ian Watson, playing an important role in their run to the Super League Grand Final in 2019, but turned down the chance to extend his contract with them earlier this year.
By a strange twist of fate, Evalds' first game since the announcement he will be switching to the Tigers next year was made sees him up against the team he will be joining, although there will be no love lost in the behind-closed-doors clash at Headingley.
"I've still got a job to do with Salford this season but it's going to be an exciting year for me next year," Evalds said.
"I've been at Salford a long time, so this was an opportunity to take up a new challenge at Cas and have to prove myself all over again.
"It just appealed to me and the way Castleford play will suit me down to the ground. There's some quality players over there and a few I've played with before, so it's an exciting move all round."
Red Devils head coach Ian Watson will be looking for Evalds to continue the form which has led to him being the joint-highest try-scorer in Super League so far in 2020 with eight - particularly as fellow leading scorer Ken Sio is ruled out due to injury.
Winger Sio is awaiting the results of a scan on a leg injury which could keep him out long-term. He joins Josh Johnson (knee), Ryan Lannon (broken bone in hand) and Chris Atkin (rib) on the sidelines.
All change again
The postponement of the match between Wakefield and Leeds following two positive coronavirus tests at Trinity means Salford and Castleford have had their match put back from a 2.30pm afternoon kick-off to the 8.15pm slot.
It is a relatively minor disruption for the teams, particularly given how both are among those affected by matches being postponed or re-arranged at short notice since the Super League season resumed last month.
Castleford were not even due to be in action last weekend but were called up from being on standby to play Wigan Warriors after their previously scheduled opponents Catalans Dragons were forced to postpone their match, suffering a 30-22 to the league leaders.
"We are going to have to respond quickly but since the resumption of the season I feel like we have been set up a little bit," Tigers head coach Daryl Powell told the Pontefract & Castleford Express.
"It is not ideal. Things are getting thrown at us pretty quickly. We had a good look at Wigan, I don't think there are any excuses there, it is just hard work this season."
Powell does, at least, have Peter Mata'utia available for selection again after the centre completed his two-match suspension, but James Clare, Jake Trueman and Daniel Smith are all unavailable.
Clare's x-rays came back all clear after he left the field on a stretcher in the defeat to Wigan, but he does not feature in the 21-man squad this week. Meanwhile, Trueman is out with a back injury picked up in the later stages of the match.
Smith sees reason to be positive
You have to go back to January 31 - the first weekend of the 2020 season - to find Hull KR's sole victory of the Super League season so far.
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That run of seven straight losses, interrupted only by a win over Championship side Leigh Centurions in the Challenge Cup in March, has left Rovers bottom of the table.
No relegation this year due to Toronto Wolfpack's withdrawal for the rest of the season has lifted a weight from the club though and head coach Tony Smith has no intention of adopting a conservative approach.
The Australia was particularly encouraged by parts of his team's performance in the 32-18 defeat to defending champions St Helens last weekend and will be looking for more of the same when they take on high-flying Wigan this time around.
"I thought we were pretty rusty to start with but, once we got into our plan and held onto the ball, I thought we troubled them," Smith said.
"The half-time scoreline was encouraging - although in the second half we were a little sloppy.
"To score 18 points, not many teams have done that against St Helens, and I thought we did well against their big forward pack."
Smith will, however, be without the influential pair of full-back Adam Quinlan and half-back Ryan Brierley though, with both having suffered injuries in the defeat to Saints.
Joe Keyes, Mikey Lewis and Jez Litten are back in the 21-man squad though, with Harvey Livett also available again after recovering from illness.
Hardaker expects Rovers to attack
Rovers' new approach was signalled from the opening moments of their first game following lockdown as they went for a short kick-off against Warrington Wolves which they recovered and scored a try from to take an early lead.
Ultimately, Smith's former team proved too strong for the Robins that day, but one of this week's opponents was impressed by their attacking mindset.
Wigan's Zak Hardaker is expecting nothing less when they face Hull KR on Thursday.
"A few weeks ago, they kicked off with a 10-metre kick-off and as a neutral I loved it - I was cheering on Hull KR," Hardaker said.
"I think they've had a switch of mindset there, they've gone toe-to-toe with Warrington and they're playing a brand of rugby that's quite good to the eye."
Meanwhile, Oliver Gildart is in line to make his first appearance of the year for Wigan after recovering from a shoulder injury sustained on Great Britain's Southern Hemisphere tour last winter.
