Category: Super League Rugby

After hitting rock-bottom, the four-time Super League champions are finally returning to the top flight

By No Helmets Required

When Super League was cut to a dozen teams at the end of the 2014 season, it lost two of its biggest cities in Bradford and London, which followed big markets such as Paris, Tyneside and Sheffield out of the top flight, seemingly never to return. London Broncos have popped back to the party twice but only stayed for a season each time. Seeing the Broncos become a penniless and homeless part-time operation was sad; seeing Bradford do the same was shocking.

The Bulls went into financial meltdown, were liquidated, relegated to the third division and even left their famous Odsal Stadium for a while. Now, 20 years after being crowned world champions for the third time in five seasons, Bradford are back in the big time and preparing to kick off their season at Hull on Saturday.

A new documentary film shows elite referees are dedicated, passionate and desperate to get decisions right

By No Helmets Required

Fifteen teams are currently grinding their way through pre-season training before the new Super League season. No, the Rugby Football League has not suddenly decided to promote London to the big time. The people who will make the decisions on the pitch without touching the ball are also preparing for the season by hitting the treadmills, pushing weights and running laps at their base in the Etihad Campus in Manchester.

You can get a good idea what that looks like in a new documentary called Beyond the Whistle, which follows the highest-profile British referees through the 2024 season. The 40-minute film focuses on the battle between Liam Moore and Chris Kendall to be the league’s top referee, how the group copes when new rules are foisted upon them, and the work done by head of match officials, Phil Bentham.

The coach should rethink his halfback combination and stand down his old pack for the game at Everton’s stadium

By No Helmets Required

Having bet the house on Hull KR hero Mikey Lewis being the problem that Australia could not solve, England coach Shaun Wane has retreated home to Wigan to ponder whether he should have stuck rather than twisted. Dropping Harry Smith for the Ashes opener, and favouring treble-winner Lewis to partner captain George Williams in the halves, was surprising but understandable. Lewis, the player of the match in the Super League Grand Final, was in the form of his life. But the Williams-Lewis combination struggled to open up Australia. If they fail again on Saturday in Liverpool, Wane’s dream of winning the Ashes will be over.

“Our last plays disappointed me most,” said Wane after the 26-6 defeat at Wembley. “They outkicked us.” It’s rare anyone outkicks Wigan player Smith. Lewis mixed up his kicks under the arch, but very little troubled Australia. The best attacking kick was a 40-20 from replacement hooker Jez Litten when England trailed by three scores. Even then, Williams fumbled close to the line and five seconds later Reece Walsh had got to the halfway line.

Hosting the world champions is as tough as it gets, but the players say this is the ‘best England team in a long time’

By No Helmets Required

With the club season over, England players George Williams and Jack Welsby are focusing on their next challenge: an Ashes series against the world champions. The pair will take centre stage at Wembley against Australia on 25 October. We met up in London to discuss the first Ashes series since 2003.

George, as captain, what will you say to players like Jack who have waited so long to face Australia?
Williams: “The last time we played them over here was 2016, which is a long time ago. I was young and came off the bench. It was a good experience. But Jack knows – he’s been around the block long enough now, won Super League titles and played against the NRL’s best, so I don’t have to tell him too much. The younger ones? Probably just enjoy it. They don’t come around often. You want to test yourself against the best in the world. We want to knock them off their perch.”

• London Broncos’ big names will play in Championship

• Door open for them in 2027 if they can raise grading

York Knights’ owner, Clint Goodchild, believes the club’s historic promotion to the Super League for the first time is a watershed moment for the whole of North Yorkshire, after they and Toulouse were granted admission to the top flight in 2026 and London Broncos missed the cut.

The Knights will play in rugby league’s highest division for the first time since 1986 after they were selected by an independent panel alongside Toulouse to join the top 12 from Thursday’s IMG gradings and expand the Super League to 14 teams for the first time in more than a decade.

Unpredictability and fresher feel has been apparent in Super League and whets the appetite for England’s home Tests against Australia

For the first time in two decades Super League woke up on Sunday morning with a name other than Wigan Warriors, St Helens or Leeds Rhinos as its champions. Hull KR are the first new winners of the competition since 2004, and only the fifth in history to be crowned at all.

For the Robins, this is a watershed moment. Without a major trophy in 40 years before this season, they have now completed an historic treble in 2025 and are arguably Super League’s premier club side. But for the wider competition as a whole, their success could not have come at a better time.

Not only did Walters score the key try for Leeds in 2015 – he did it again in the Scottish Grand Final a decade later

By No Helmets Required

Ten years ago this week Josh Walters took a simple pass and plunged over the six-yard line at Old Trafford to score the final try in the Super League Grand Final as Leeds secured their seventh title. There were 73,512 fans inside the stadium and a couple of million more watching at home. He humbly plays down his role in the treble-clinching triumph. “I never say it was the winning try because Kev [Sinfield] still had to kick the two points – my try brought us level and there was still 15 minutes left.”

That was his first winning try in a Grand Final. The second came this summer in Scotland, watched by a few dozen spectators at Penicuik Rugby Club. In contrast to his supporting role at Old Trafford, Walters was West End’s driving force for the whole match. The dramatic golden-point victory brought West End Warriors their first title in their debut season, Walters breaking from halfway to seal a 34-30 win over Edinburgh Eagles. “We wouldn’t have been in that position if it hadn’t been for me,” says the gently spoken Walters. “I was about to score earlier and someone knocked the ball out of my hands. So I had to make up for that.”

• Leigh 26-10 Wakefield

• First-half blitz sets up showdown for Grand Final spot

Leigh set up a second consecutive semi-final shot at near-neighbours Wigan after brushing aside visitors Wakefield 26-10 in their Super League elimination playoff.

Three tries in a stirring first period all but sealed the win for Adrian Lam’s side, who will now make the eight-mile trip to the Brick Community Stadium next Friday in a bid to book a place in their first Grand Final.

The Challenge Cup, Magic Weekend, international calendar and women’s game will look different next year

By No Helmets Required

Super League is going to look different next season. The big news is that the division is likely to expand to 14 teams, but that’s not the only change coming for fans. A review into the sport led by Nigel Wood has suggested various new ideas, with Magic Weekend, the Challenge Cup, international fixtures, the Championship, women’s and wheelchair games all affected. Now that the report has been digested, we have a fuller picture of how the sport will shape up in 2026.

Troubled club at least manage to fulfil a fixture before losing 38-6 at Leigh, but Super League status is looking desperate

The notion of Salford walking out on Friday night to play their game against Leigh may seem to casual observers like a positive step, given they failed to fulfil their recent fixture against Wakefield and seem engulfed in a perma-crisis.

In hindsight, the Salford warning signs were there last winter when the club requested an advance of £500,000 on their central distribution to survive the off-season. “We should have seen the wolves were at the door then,” one Super League chief executive said this week.

No one seems to want a bigger league – other than the clubs that will benefit – but it’s not an entirely bad idea

By No Helmets Required

Do you know anyone who thinks expanding Super League to 14 clubs next season is a good idea, beyond the people who voted for it and the Championship clubs with hopes of promotion? Me neither. When almost no one thinks something is the right thing to do, it almost certainly isn’t. But why have nine successful businessmen made such a controversial decision? Let’s analyse the widespread objections to the idea and play devil’s advocate to see if there are valid reasons for making a change.