Teams have to announce a 19 man squad 48 hours before kick off so I plan to post team news and odds once they are announced along with some general comments. I usually write a general preview of the weekend's games on Thursday evening for my blog so if anyone has any comments, that's great. :-) If not, I shall witter on to myself!

Leeds v Castleford – Friday 8 PM.

Leeds Rhinos squad

Webb, Donald, Delaney, Senior, Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, Buderus, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Lauitiiti, Sinfield, Diskin, Eastwood, Bailey, Ablett, Burgess, Watkins.

Castleford Tigers squad

Owen, Shenton, Evans, Wainwright, Chase, Sherwin, Sargent, Hudson, Huby, Ferres, Snitch, Westerman, Jones, Higgins, Jackson, Netherton, Davies, McGoldrick, Widders.

Best Odds: Leeds 1/9 – Castleford 7.

Now, here is a set of ridiculous odds. Are Leeds clear favourites? Yes. They are the champions and had a run out last week. But with some bookies going 1/12? 1/16? That's ridiculous.

As an aside, you can usually expect very little to be matched on Betfair until 24 hours before the game, possibly 48 for SKY games. However, look at this market… Something very very weird has happened, but I'm happy enough with it. ;-)

Wigan v Crusaders – Friday 8 PM

Wigan Warriors squad

Phelps, Roberts, Gleeson, Carmont, Richards, S. Tomkins, Leuluai, Fielden, Riddell, Coley, Hansen, J. Tomkins, O'Loughlin, Prescott, Paleaaesina, Deacon, O'Carroll, Mossop, Goulding.

Crusaders RL squad

Youngquest, Mellars, Raynor, Witt, O'Hara, Withers, Bryant, Hauraki, Chan, Trimarchi, Dyer, Lee, Winternstein, Peek, Thackray, James, Flower, White, Lupton.

Best Prices: Wigan 1/25 – Crusaders 10.

Wigan are deserved short price favourites. However, I'd be happy to lay at 1/25! Crusaders have some match practice after last week, showed some ability last week and have a coach returning to his old club. Unlikely yes, but not impossible.