Trading Talk – Super League Final

After a long and grinding rugby league season it all comes down to this weekend’s Super League decider between St Helens and Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford. Sean Long is set to end his St Helens career on one of the biggest stages after helping his side to a fourth successive Grand Final. Spread bettors to have bought St Helen’s outright index earlier in the year will be hoping he can put in one last big performance to help carry his teammates over the finish line while buyers of Saints’ win index spread for the match will be wondering whether it will be third time lucky, having lost the last two finals. Buyers of the Rhinos’ spread will be wishing otherwise – the Leeds team defeated Saints in those two clashes.

Sporting Index were prepared for the rush to buy the outright index of both clubs at the start of the competition - since 1998 there have been eleven finals and seven of those have been won by either Leeds or St Helens. While recent history is on the side of the Rhinos, favourites on the outright spread market at 51.5–53pts (60pts for winner, 40pts for runner-up), the Merseysiders will be determined to make the most of their sixth final appearance. Their outright index spread is currently at 47–48.5pts.

The eleven finals to date have produced some memorable matches; the 2002 final between St Helens and the Bradford Bulls in particular sticking in the minds of spread punters. To the delight of those that had bought St Helen’s win index spread, the side came away with a 19-18 victory for their fourth Super League trophy. That final was the closest thus far, in contrast to the Grand Final with the largest winning margin of 31 points just a year earlier, when Bradford Bulls triumphed 37-6 over Wigan Warriors. Spread buyers of the Rhinos’ supremacy would much prefer the 2001 result this weekend. For those punters looking for a more informed approach to their supremacy spread and points markets decisions, the average winning margin of the eleven finals is almost 13 points, while the average margin in the previous two final meetings between the sides is a larger 17.5 points. Finals that have involved either St Helens or Leeds have generally produced high scoring matches - the average total when the sides have featured is just shy of 30 points.

The player performance spread markets always create plenty of interest and the Sporting Index rugby league traders are expecting many to lavish attention on Long. Spread punters who like to play Sporting Index’s popular shirt numbers markets might also hope for a glorious goodbye from the dreadlocked Saints star, especially after seeing his try in the semi-final against Wigan. He is ranked second in Saints’ all-time points charts behind Kel Coslett, passing the 2000-point mark for Saints in 2005. He wears the number 7 shirt on Saturday.