Watch all three games from day one of the Betfred Super League's Dacia Magic Weekend in Newcastle live on Sky Sports Arena from 2.55pm; Castleford Tigers vs Salford Red Devils (kick-off 3pm), St Helens vs Catalans Dragons (5.15pm) and Hull FC vs Leeds Rhinos (7.30pm)
Saturday 4 September 2021 16:48, UK
We look at what is being said and team news ahead of the three matches on day one of this year’s Super League Magic Weekend at Newcastle’s St James’ Park, which kicks off on Saturday afternoon with all games live on Sky Sports…
Throughout his nearly two-decade long career, Kevin Brown has been part of every Magic Weekend bar the most recent in 2019 when he was ruled out due to injury.
As well as lining up for Huddersfield Giants in the first event at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium back in 2007, the half-back has also featured for Widnes Vikings and Warrington Wolves, and may well get one final Magic outing with Salford Red Devils on Saturday.
A foot injury has sidelined Brown, who retires at the end of the 2021 season, for the Red Devils' last two games and while head coach Richard Marshall wants to keep changes to a minimum for the clash with Castleford Tigers, he is still keen to see the 36-year-old go out on a high.
"He wants to play, he's a competitor," Marshall said. "He's been really good for me as one of our senior leaders in the group.
"He's a really good pro and, if we can give him a good send-off, it would be a fitting tribute to Kevin. He's been really good for Salford and other clubs as well."
Marshall will be forced into making at least one change, with prop Jack Ormondroyd ruled out with a head knock sustained in Monday's defeat by St Helens.
Castleford coach Daryl Powell will make a late decision on the fitness of reigning Man of Steel Paul McShane, who missed Monday's 22-0 home defeat to Wigan Warriors with an abdominal injury.
"He had a scan on Tuesday," Powell, who was named Super League's coach of the month for August, said. "He's not too bad and he had a bit of a run on Wednesday so we will check him again.
"We're not ruling him out, but he could potentially come into the team - he's one of the best players in the competition. I thought we missed him [against Wigan]."
Named squads
Castleford Tigers: Niall Evalds, Derrell Olpherts, Peter Mata'utia, Michael Shenton, Paul McShane, Grant Millington, Oliver Holmes, Cheyse Blair, Adam Milner, Nathan Massey, George Griffin, Alex Foster, Jacques O'Neill, Tyla Hepi, James Clare, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Daniel Smith, Suaia Matagi, Jordan Turner, Lewis Bienek, Gareth O'Brien.
Salford Red Devils: Morgan Escare, Ken Sio, Krisnan Inu, Joe Burgess, Tui Lolohea, Kevin Brown, Andy Ackers, Ryan Lannon, Danny Addy, Oliver Roberts, Greg Burke, Josh Johnson, Chris Atkin, Harvey Livett, Rhys Williams, Dan Sarginson, Matt Costello, Sam Luckley, Ata Hingano, Nathan Roebuck, Ellis Robson.
Another player who will be calling time on his career at the end of the season is Catalans Dragons stand-off James Maloney, who has made a huge impact in the south of France since joining the club ahead of last season.
Maloney's partnership in the halves with fellow Australian Josh Drinkwater and his overall influence have helped the Dragons rise to the top of Super League and put themselves in a superb position to not only claim the League Leaders' Shield but dream of winning a maiden Grand Final.
The 35-year-old already has NRL Grand Final winners' medals under his belt from his spells with Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks, and Catalans head coach Steve McNamara hailed Maloney's contributions to the team ahead of Saturday's showdown with St Helens.
"He's a winner, but he likes having fun, enjoys himself and does it in the right way," McNamara said. "He's very determined at this stage, he's leading the team - along with some of our other leaders as well - and he's very well-liked, and has helped put us in the position we're in.
"He's been there and done it 1,000 times, he knows what needs to get done and he's put himself in a good position to do that."
Victory at St James' Park could see Catalans secure the League Leaders' Shield for the first time, with McNamara further boosted by the return of New Zealander Dean Whare in the three-quarters and second row Matt Whitley following the 64-0 win over Leigh Centurions.
Saints, meanwhile, are coming into the top-of-the-table clash on the back of an intense 24-14 win over Warrington Wolves on Monday and head coach Kristian Woolf is expecting a similar type of game against the Dragons.
"Last weekend's game against Warrington was a really high-quality semi-finals-type game and I expect the same this weekend," Woolf, who has named an unchanged 21-man squad from that match, said.
"Both teams still have an opportunity to be League Leaders and both teams know we're more than likely to come across each other again in the finals, so the whole challenge of that makes it exciting as well. We're really looking forward to it and I know Catalans will be as well."
Named squads
St Helens: Lachlan Coote, Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Mark Percival, Regan Grace, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Matty Lees, Joel Thompson, James Bentley, Morgan Knowles, Sione Mata'utia, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Kyle Amor, Agnatius Paasi, Jack Welsby, Aaron Smith, Joe Batchelor, Lewis Dodd, Jake Wingfield, Ben Davies.
Catalans Dragons: Arthur Mourgue, Tom Davies, Samisoni Langi, Dean Whare, Fouad Yaha, James Maloney, Josh Drinkwater, Gil Dudson, Micky McIlorum, Julian Bousquet, Matt Whitley, Mike McMeeken, Mickael Simon, Matthieu Laguerre, Joel Tomkins, Joe Chan, Sam Kasiano, Sam Tomkins, Jordan Dezaria, Cesar Rouge.
Ahead of watching Monday's clash between St Helens and Warrington, England rugby union head coach Eddie Jones told Sky Sports he felt Hull FC full-back Jake Connor had the skillset to cross code - providing he improved his fitness levels.
Presenter Brian Carney - who has played both league and union at international level - did not believe that to be the case, but Connor himself concurred with the view of Jones, who spent time at Hull FC earlier this year.
But although he wants to improve his fitness and enjoyed learning from Jones, the 26-year-old is not planning to switch codes any time soon.
"I don't think he was wrong," Connor said. "It's always been a thing of mine - my fitness is something I'm always working on to get better at, so I don't think he's wrong in that department.
"But obviously I've never played union, it doesn't look that hard. You never say never but it looks too boring for me."
Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson recalls Jamie Shaul, Carlos Tuimavave and Mitieli Vulikijapani to his 21-man squad for the Magic Weekend clash with Leeds Rhinos as they aim to rebound from a 42-14 defeat at Salford and revitalise their play-off bid, but Scott Taylor is out with a back injury.
Leeds, who are also in contention for a top-six finish, are without the suspended Zane Tetevano and injured Callum McLelland, with Richard Agar recalling Alex Sutcliffe from his loan spell at Featherstone Rovers and including Corey Hall.
"With both teams fighting for that play-off spot and, with the form we've been in for the past two games, it's a must-win," Connor added.
Named squads
Leeds Rhinos: Tom Briscoe, Harry Newman, Ash Handley, Rob Lui, Kruise Leeming, Matt Prior, Rhyse Martin, Brad Dwyer, Richie Myler, Cameron Smith, Tom Holroyd, King Vuniyayawa, Bodene Thompson, Alex Sutcliffe, Sam Walters, Luke Briscoe, James Donaldson, Jarrod O'Connor, Jack Broadbent, Corey Hall, Morgan Gannon.
Hull FC: Jake Connor, Bureta Faraimo, Carlos Tuimavave, Mahe Fonua, Marc Sneyd, Danny Houghton, Chris Satae, Andre Savelio, Manu Ma'u, Ligi Sao, Jordan Johnstone, Jordan Lane, Brad Fash, Ben McNamara, Adam Swift, Josh Bowden, Connor Wynne, Cameron Scott, Mitieli Vulikijapani, Jamie Shaul, Aidan Burrell.
