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Gareth Hock: A point to prove

He must have been smarting over that and he will want to show what he is capable of. He will want to prove a point or two against the likes of Gareth Ellis and Jamie Peacock who did make the squad.

Stevo
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Wigan v Leeds
7.30pm, Friday, Sky Sports 1

Leeds will be pretty happy that they got away with playing so many youngsters last weekend. It did take some quality from Matt Diskin and Brent Webb, but the club will be in pretty high spirits.

In theory Leeds, as table toppers, are full of confidence and should blow Wigan away, but Wigan have the quality to beat Leeds and the Rhinos know that.

Leeds will know that this is not going to be an easy task and they will know what the likes of Trent Barrett can do to any side.

They will be hoping that Barrett is more interested in packing his bags than playing football. I don't think that will happen though, he is still 100% committed to playing football and he will rise to the challenge.

All players like to prove that they still have that quality and he is still a top player. He may shun the limelight and say that he doesn't want it, but I can assure you when it comes to big games like this, he will be well up for it.

Wigan's problem seems to be that they go to sleep for several portions of the game. They have this tendency to drop off and we saw that last week against Harlequins. Quins took control early in the game, but fair credit to Wigan - they did dig deep and get a well-deserved win.

The one thing that Wigan coach Brian Noble always seems to do is to get the best out of his players when they come up against Leeds.

Leeds coach Brian McClennan has showed that he is a pretty canny customer and the mind games between the two is going to be fascinating. When and where they bring on their replacements could be crucial.

For Wigan, well I think that Gareth Hock will be the man to watch. I think he will be rather upset that he was overlooked for the international against France.

I think it has been 20 years since a Wigan player was not included in a British or English squad. He must have been smarting over that and he will want to show what he is capable of. He will want to prove a point or two against the likes of Gareth Ellis and Jamie Peacock who did make the squad.

Both Peacock and Ellis will be cock-a-hoop after their displays against France, so that should be an almighty clash.

It is generally up in the forwards where this game is won, and if Wigan can match Leeds upfront then anything can happen.

For Leeds, Kyle Leuluai also has to make sure his kicking game is spot on. He was below par in his positional kicking and that is so important in the modern game.

Stevo Says

Away win: Leeds know that St Helens are breathing down their necks and will want to put in a solid display here. A few players may have other things on their minds going into this game, like Wembley and even the World Cup. However I think they will be focussed 100% on this game and I expect them to grind out a win.