Offloads: Giant Strides

Round two of the Stobart Super League saw Huddersfield Giants thrust themselves to the top of the table putting a marker down as genuine title contenders this year.

Their win away to Wigan the week before came as a surprise to many, especially as they were missing many first choice forwards for the game, but their strength in depth has suddenly come to the fore as players who were tried and tested last season on a rotation basis now look the real deal. Their fixture against Warrington this Saturday looks like a belter.

Quite fittingly, I move on to Wigan second, as they appear to be suffering from the Giants stealing their thunder every week at the moment. Having lost to Huddersfield in their first home game in round one, this week their win against Leeds looked impressive, until the Giants smashed Widnes.

They may be a different calibre of opposition admittedly, but the manner of the play has been very different from these two sides. Throw the Wolves into the mix as well as far as attacking rugby goes, and I go back to this Saturday’s fixture being one to relish.

Let’s not forget about the Rhinos pitting their English wits against Manly on Friday in the Heinz Big Soup World Club Challenge. They’ll be looking to do a Bradford and turn things right around from that performance a week before, and they did look just a fraction off the whole game.

While I look forward to this match each year, it does seem to be bursting at the seams as a one-off event, especially now it’s being played at Leeds’ home ground. As Leeds chief Gary Hetherington has suggested on more than one occasion, the concept is crying out for expansion, and I’d like to add this needs to be at neutral venues. At the very least the games should take place at venues that are chosen for an intended advantage that’s been earned.

I was on player watch at the weekend and Andrew Dixon is looking very good this year for St Helens. In the first two rounds he has come up with important contributions at critical times, whether it be a length of the field break or holding possible tries up against the Reds. He’s had an impressive start and is definitely one to watch.

Another player who pleased me on Friday was Danny Williams on the wing for Salford. Formerly a hotly tipped Rhinos youngster, a short foray into the other code saw him drop off the radar until the City Reds gave him another chance at the big time of Super League. If Williams’ tackles on Meli are anything to go by he’s eager not to let this chance slip away, and I’ll be interested to see if he can maintain that sort of commitment for his side this year.

I hate to go on, but I’ve finally worked out something the margin meter can be used for! What the margin meter does is give an accurate leader and margin based on stats up until that point in the game. Therefore we can use it to see if a team is leading by as many as they should be at that stage in the game based on those stats, compared to what the margin meter suggests.

The ability to predict the outcome of a game after eighty minutes would rely on an accurate assumption based on match trends over the years. This would have to include how those two teams fair in particular weather conditions, at different stadia (or sized pitches) and when they find themselves in that position (behind or in front) at that particular stage of the game.

If it was to be really clever it would even combine the stats of each individual player on a team so that different personnel could also be taken account of, but for now at least I’ve found something I can use it for, and Phil Clarke to be fair to him also shed light on it’s limitations, and aspirations for it’s development.

For now, let’s just watch some great games this weekend wherever you’re travelling, as they look close across the board this week. We’ll be blissfully unaware of who will win, just the way we like it. Plus in your spare time why not pour yourself a pint and watch Odds On Rob and I discussing the greatest game on the Code13 Rugby League Lock-In Podcast!