Friday 7 July 2017 22:47, UK
There is a crucial game in the race for the Super 8s on Friday night as St Helens face Hull FC at the Totally Wicked Stadium, live on Sky Sport 1 HD from 7.30pm.
Justin Holbrook's Saints are fighting to hold onto their place in the top eight while his counterpart Lee Radford is targeting a top-two finish.
St Helens were 45-0 winners over Hull at Magic Weekend but who will prevail on Friday? Here are three key head-to-heads which could decide the contest...
Mark Percival v Carlos Tuimavave
Two big names return at centre this week. Percival is back from suspension for St Helens and will revert to the left centre position, with Ryan Morgan switching sides.
And what a season Percival has had. He has scored the most tries of any St Helens player, crossing 11 times so far in 2017, but he has also been creating tries too, making 11 scores so far this season, helping youngster Regan Grace settle into the side outside him.
Percival is St Helens' biggest attacking threat with the ball. He has made 1838 metres at an average of 7.89m, but take a look at his clean break statistics.
Percival has gone through the line 23 times this season, 10 more than any other teammate and the third best in the competition, while his 84 tackle busts are also 28 more than any other Saints player, and again the third best in Super League.
Hull FC will need to be wary of his threat.
Tuimavave is another centre making his comeback this week. He was a late withdrawal against Castleford but is expected to replace either Jake Connor or Josh Griffin.
Tuimavave is another dangerous player in attack. He is certainly capable of finding the whitewash, having scored nine tries this season, but surprisingly for a centre, he has not provided a single try assist.
However, Tuimavave is a powerful runner with ball in hand. He has made 1407 metres from his 165 carries, averaging 8.53m a run, and that includes 34 tackle busts and seven clean breaks.
Having switched between centre and stand-off last season, Tuimavave has found a more permanent home in the outside backs this campaign.
Look out for what he can do back in the side on Friday night.
James Roby v Danny Houghton
With St Helens teetering on the edge of the Super 8s positions, they need their experienced players to step up. And who better than to lead from the front than Roby.
The hooker has missed a chunk of action in the middle of the season and has been spelled from the bench at times in 2017, but Roby is a player built for the business end of the campaign. He has scored in the last two games, crossing in the close win over Salford and then against Leeds.
Roby's stats are as expected, huge numbers of tackles (603 in total), huge numbers of metres (1254m) and at a good average gain per run (8.42m).
For so long he was the benchmark for hookers in Super League, but Roby's now got stiff competition for the title of Super League's premier No 9. What has he got left in the locker?
One of the competition for Roby's best hooker title is his opposition number on Friday and the current Super League Man of Steel.
Houghton has not quite hit the heights of last season but the hooker has missed seven games in 2017, making it difficult to achieve the success of 2016.
Despite those absences, Houghton is unsurprisingly top of Hull FC's tackle count, already up to 646 hits for the season.
He has been leading the side with Gareth Ellis missing and Houghton has spoke about the Black and Whites' target of a top-two finish.
They'll need their talismanic hooker fully fit and firing to achieve that aim.
Morgan Knowles v Sika Manu
St Helens will be pleased with the progress of 20-year-old Knowles. He can play both as a hooker and at loose forward but the club have utilised him at the back of the pack more to ensure first-team action.
Knowles has made nine starts in the No 13 position this season, including the last two games, while he has also made nine appearances off the bench as well.
It is a tactic we've seen Castleford deploy with great success this campaign, moving Adam Milner from the hooking position to loose forward.
Knowles is built of similar stuff; he is a workhorse who is not afraid of getting his hands dirty. He is third in St Helens' tackling list with 510 hits, an impressive figure for someone who's played less than half of the club's Super League games.
Justin Holbrook will be keen to see how he continues to develop.
Facing Knowles at the base of the Hull FC scrum is a man built of different stuff altogether.
Manu is a tricky customer to handle. He arrived alongside another destructive back rower from the NRL in 2016, but the 30-year-old has made more of an impact in Super League than Frank 'The Tank' Pritchard.
A World Cup winner in 2008, Manu has stepped up a gear this season. He has got an all-round game that offers plenty for Lee Radford in both attack and defence; 1327 metres at an average gain of 7.41m a drive, 13 offloads, 30 tackles busts and 509 tackles.
They are impressive statistics and despite playing most of the season in the second row, Lee Radford's switched Manu into the No 13 position for three of the last four games.
Will he make an impact come Friday night?
