Wigan and Warrington back in Super League action

The 2016 Grand Finalists, who meet in a re-match in a fortnight's time, restored Super League's battered reputation with handsome victories over NRL giants Brisbane and Cronulla last weekend.

Warrington, who host Castleford on Friday, were particularly impressive in their 27-18 win over the Broncos and Tigers coach Daryl Powell admits: "If they play like they did last week, it's a real challenge for us."

Castleford, who posted an impressive opening win over Leigh, are seen as genuine title challengers this year and Powell says the visit to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, where they lost 56-12 last March, will provide them with a useful early yardstick.

"We've been talking and thinking about ourselves as a top-four club for a fair while now and, if we're going to achieve that, these are the challenges you have to face up to," he said.

"I thought Warrington were superb last week. I was pleased for the English game after both games against the Australian clubs. Warrington looked sharp and athletic and strong and put Brisbane under so much pressure with the way they moved the ball.

"They made two errors throughout the whole of the game.

"We had a real tough gig there last year early on in the season, when we got absolutely belted, so we know what it's like to go there and be on the wrong side."

Wigan coach Shaun Wane, whose side host Widnes at the DW Stadium, says he is still smarting over his team's surprise loss to the Vikings in the Super 8s last September.

It was Widnes' second victory of the season at the DW Stadium, having won there in March to inflict a first home defeat on Wigan for nine months, but it was the most recent meeting that most disappointed Wane.

"It hurt me badly because we were poor that day," Wane said. "We had 22 penalties and they had two players sin-binned and we still couldn't beat them.

"How they won the game is motivation for us. They came with a game plan and executed it. We can't allow them to stop us playing like they did."

Wigan stand-off George Williams, man of the match in the 22-6 win over the NRL champions on Sunday, admits the Warriors are now an even bigger scalp for their Super League rivals following their World Club Challenge triumph.

"That's what comes of being a good team," he said. "Most teams raise their game against us any way."

Wane recalls former Widnes second rower Willie Isa while Vikings coach Denis Betts must find a new half-back pairing after Tom Gilmore joined Joe Mellor on the injury list.

Elsewhere on a busy night in Super League, Leigh will aim to get off the mark at the third attempt when they host St Helens at the Sports Village.

The Centurions improved on their opening-day hammering at Castleford when they went down at home to Leeds last Friday and Saints coach Keiron Cunningham is expecting a stern test.

"It will be a tough battle for sure," he said. "I am happy that they are back in Super League. The game against Cas probably didn't do them justice but what you saw on Friday was the Leigh we know."

In the other fixtures, Leeds host Salford, who have not won at Headingley since 2009, and Wakefield go to Huddersfield seeking a fourth successive win over their west Yorkshire neighbours.

Huddersfield stand-off Danny Brough goes into the game needing three points to climb into the top in the list of all-time leading point scorers. His total currently stands at 3,436.