St Helens vs Huddersfield Giants Predictions: Confident Scully backs Saints to march on

St Helens made easy work of Hull FC last week and boss Paul Wellens will be hoping for more of the same when Huddersfield Giants visit the Totally Wicked Stadium on Thursday night (20:00).

Club legend Paul Sculthorpe has shared his St Helens vs Huddersfield Giants predictions – and it’s fair to say he’s in a confident mood…

I’m not going to go overboard, but what a way to bounce back against Hull FC at the Totally Wicked last Friday.

After such a disappointing result and disappointing performance against Warrington in the Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-final, it was imperative that Saints responded in style – and they did.

As I say, though, I’m not going to get carried away as this Hull FC side could well be one of the worst in the history of Betfred Super League. They sit 11th in the table with only one win – against London, and they probably should have lost.

The emphatic 58-0 win propelled Saints back to the top of the Betfred Super League ladder – albeit temporarily, with Catalans leapfrogging them on Saturday following their demolition of Hull KR.

There’s been a lot of negativity –  from myself included – regarding our lack of attacking flair and finesse this season, but no doubt with plenty of words from Paul Wellens and a few changes in personnel we saw a huge change on that front.

One of the big differences this week was the willingness to push off the ball and players in motion resulted in a TEN-try rout with nine different scorers.

Wello admitted post-match that there had been some ‘honest conversations’ following the Wire defeat and that there is still work to be done after that 58-0 morale-boosting victory over the Black and Whites.

I’ve no doubt everyone was on their game in training as defeats like that on Sunday bring you back to earth. This can certainly be a good thing, and uncover issues you don’t quite see when still winning.

I do think it’ll be a whole different proposition on Thursday though, as we face an in-form Huddersfield at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

The Giants come into the clash off the back of a close win against Leeds at Headingley, but also a huge shock win over the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Challenge Cup the previous week. Ian Watson’s men will certainly come to town looking to extend their three-match winning run in the league.

Huddersfield have some real strike on their edges and are a team who like to throw the ball around. With Jake Connor in the side who knows what it going to happen.

But, it’s their size, pace and power on the fringes that are causing teams problems. I include two former Saints in that, in Kevin Naiqama and the outstanding Adam Swift. Sam Halsall and probably their best player Esan Marsters are the other two Saints’ defence must stop.

I have no doubts this will be a tougher game than Hull FC, but I’m in a confident mood and predict a Saints win by 18 points or more. Here’s to hoping we can land back-to-back winners having tipped a triumph by 31 points or more last week.

Before I sign off this week, how good was it to see St Helens Council make a gesture to the one and only James Roby by renaming the St Helens Linkway ‘James Roby Way’?

Council leader David Baines said Robes is the ‘GOAT’, while Saints historian Alex Service said James is “a locally-born phenomenon whose exploits were beyond equal”. I couldn’t agree more.