Play-off Preview: St Helens v Catalan

James Gordon 02 Oct 2014 11:52 AM

League leaders St Helens stand in the way of an unlikely first Super League Grand Final appearance for Catalan in Thursday night’s play-off.

The Dragons have peaked at just the right time, defeating both Leeds and Huddersfield in closely fought play-off encounters so far.

Meanwhile Saints, who finished top of the table after 27 rounds, comfortably saw off Castleford in their opening play-off game, giving them a week off last weekend.

Unfortunately, the week-off does little to ease Nathan Brown’s injury concerns, with trio Luke Walsh, Jon Wilkin and Jonny Lomax all still on the long-term sidelined list.

Prop Alex Walmsley does return though, following suspension.

Catalan coach Laurent Frayssinous names an unchanged squad, although does have injury doubts over a handful of players.

St Helens 19-man squad: Makinson, Turner, Jones, Swift, Hohaia, Masoe, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Soliola, Manu, Laffranchi, Flanagan, Amor, Wellens, Walmsley, Percival, Wheeler, Richards, Thompson.

Catalan 19-man squad: Escare, Pomeroy, Oldfield, Bosc, Elima, Henderson, Lima, Taia, Anderson, Mounis, Maria, Pelissier, Whitehead, Millard, Bousquet, Baitieri, Duport, Garcia, Williams

LRL Prediction: Might be a game too far for the Dragons – Saints to book a place in their first Grand Final since 2011.

Last ten meetings:

Catalan Dragons 42, St Helens 0 (SLR16, 14/6/14)

St Helens 40, Catalan Dragons 22 (SLR5, 14/3/14)

Catalan Dragons 6, St Helens 26 (SLR23, 3/8/13)

St Helens 12, Catalan Dragons 22 (SLR12, 12/4/13)

Catalan Dragons 15, St Helens 20 (SLR21, 20/7/12)

St Helens 32, Catalan Dragons 34 (SLR4, 24/2/12)

St Helens 40, Catalan Dragons 18 (SLR22, 15/7/11)

Catalan Dragons 16, St Helens 22 (SLR4, 5/3/11)

St Helens 20, Catalan Dragons 30 (SLR21, 9/7/10)

Catalan Dragons 12, St Helens 42 (SLR3, 20/2/10)