Category: Super League Rugby

• Warrington 32-18 St Helens
• Wolves run in seven tries to move up to seventh

Sam Burgess has made it his business to keep his emotions in check for most of his tenure as Warrington Wolves coach – which made his reaction to Rodrick Tai’s crucial try here in the final quarter of a compelling contest leave no doubt about what this result would have meant to him and his players.

To be clear, it is still far too early in proceedings to be suggesting there is any form of early-season pressure on Warrington. But Burgess set the bar so high in his first season as a head coach last year by reaching both major finals that the very sight of the Wolves being as low as ninth with a third of the Super League season gone suggests something is not quite right.

With the clubs occupying first and second spot in the standings, the stakes are high for their Good Friday derby

Nestled at the eastern tip of the M62, the city of Hull may sit on the very tip of British rugby league’s geographical landscape but, right now, it is the epicentre of Super League.

Few cities are driven by a passion for rugby league quite like it. Both of the city’s clubs – Hull FC and Hull KR – have enjoyed spells in the upper echelons of Super League over the past 30 years but not since the early 80s, long before the advent of summer rugby, was there a time when both East Riding clubs were simultaneously competing for honours.

Hull lost their unbeaten record on Friday but they are building something special and trophies will surely come

By No Helmets Required

To say Hull Kingston Rovers are a club on the up would be a huge understatement. Eight years ago they were playing Championship games against Batley, Swinton and Dewsbury. Now they are Super League leaders, aspiring to overthrow Wigan. They are inspiring other mid-sized clubs, showing what can be done with a bit of money, a lot of hard work and many good decisions. They were beaten 28-12 by Wigan but Friday night at Craven Park was more evidence of dreams manifest.

Forty years after they last lifted a major trophy, Hull KR fans are desperate to see this current wave of success be crowned with silverware. They sold their 4,000 tickets for the Hull derby in 12 minutes, their 6,000 Challenge Cup semi-final allocation in two hours. Craven Park is sold out most games, seats only left empty by absent season-ticket holders or folk enjoying the food and drinks area on Craven Streat, the dilapidated southern terrace replaced by a fortnightly festival. It was busy from two hours before kickoff on Friday, with local musician Tom A Smith playing on the pitch before the game and on the Craven Streat stage at half-time. Fireworks went off randomly. It was the Super Bowl brought to you on a budget.

• Warrington 16-14 Leeds
• Visitors squander eight-point lead in second half

Almost 29 years to the day since Super League kicked off in Paris amid a flurry of excitement and hysteria, two teams with very different histories in the competition’s biggest games delivered a thriller for the 5,000th match in the history of the league.

The early evidence is still unclear on whether or not Warrington can claim a first Super League title – and first league title since 1955 – this year, or whether Leeds can add to the eight Grand Finals they already have. But they certainly showed enough between them to suggest they will be in the mix when the pressure is on come September and the scramble for Old Trafford reaches boiling point.

As Salford and the RFL battle to see who can look the most shambolic, we answer the questions you might be asking

By No Helmets Required

Fiasco, farce, omnishambles, call it what you like – even Malcolm Tucker would struggle to put a gloss on events at Salford Red Devils and the RFL in the last few months. With their new owners repeatedly failing to lodge the funds that would guarantee the club can get through the season, Salford remain in special measures, administered by a governing body that has seen the majority of its board resign, other senior staff leave under black clouds and a former deposed leader return in a remarkable coup. As Salford and the RFL battle to see who can look the most shambolic, we answer the questions you might be asking.

How can Salford finish fourth last season and lose their first four games this time? Winning the battle of the pointless against Huddersfield on Thursday night was a rare moment of joy for Salford since bowing out of the Super League playoffs six months ago. On paper, Paul Rowley’s side should challenge for silverware. Instead, they have played like relegation fodder, their star players totally undermined by not being paid and their employers in disarray.

‘Doing it for the town’: Super League’s all-conquering machine have a unique way of involving their community

It is Tuesday morning and there are just 48 hours to go until Wigan begin their Super League title defence against Leigh, not that you would know that when you walk into their Robin Park training complex.

To suggest the mood is relaxed would be an understatement. Some players are taking part in a cricket match on the indoor athletics track, while others are chatting to members of the public and upstairs, their head coach, Matt Peet, is relaxing with a coffee. “If someone said describe a high-performance environment, I don’t think this would be the first place you’d think of,” their former captain and assistant coach, Sean O’Loughlin, smiles.

Wigan have no weakness, Hull face a rebuild and newcomers Wakefield will quietly fancy their chances

Super League’s 30th season gets under way on Thursday evening, with the biggest opening-night crowd in the competition’s history anticipated to watch the reigning champions, Wigan Warriors, take on their local rivals, Leigh Leopards. Matt Peet’s side completed an historic quadruple last year and have all the hallmarks of a side that could sweep aside all comers again.

Will Wigan dominate 2025 just like they did in 2024? Can the likes of Warrington, Hull KR and Leeds put up a credible challenge? And who is in a struggle to avoid finishing bottom? Here is the Guardian’s team-by-team guide to the new season.

A showcase in Nevada and a new season imminent, but only the clubs with rich benefactors are likely to thrive in 2025

The new Super League season begins next week with a growing level of excitement around rugby league’s premier competition. Wigan Warriors face Leigh Leopards in a mouthwatering derby as they look to emulate last year’s quadruple, before the sport heads to Las Vegas next month for an historic fixture between Wigan and Warrington.

Crowds are up, interest is growing and the sport has every reason to be optimistic. But skim beneath the surface and these are fascinating times on a financial level, prompting plenty of intrigue about how things look at boardroom level.

• Grading system means nine clubs are safe from relegation
• Expansion talks may start ‘sooner than expected’

Super League expanding to 14 teams as early as 2026 appears to be ­looming after the publication of IMG’s ­gradings on Wednesday led to Wakefield being readmitted into the competition for 2025 in place of London Broncos, who have been demoted to the Championship.

Rugby league clubs agreed last year to replace conventional promotion and relegation with a gradings system that measured clubs in a ­variety of on- and off-field metrics. The 12 clubs with the highest ranking would be admitted to Super League, with the gradings reviewed every year.

This all-conquering team have cemented a place in the game’s folklore, but there will be no resting on their clean sweep this season

If there is one man who knows a thing or two about building a sporting dynasty, it is Sir Alex Ferguson. To that end, had we known the legendary Manchester United manager was the one to deliver Wigan Warriors’ motivational speech on the eve of the Super League Grand Final, the result would have felt like a formality before a ball had been kicked.

After all, it is not like this most outstanding of rugby league sides needs any additional help. Matt Peet’s team completed a historic quadruple with victory against Hull KR at Old Trafford on Saturday night. The first clean sweep of the Super League era and only the second in nearly a century.

A touch of French class secured an historic Wigan win at Old Trafford

Harry Smith whomps the ball deep into Hull KR territory and we’re away!

The teams are strutting onto the field serenaded by The Lathums, an indie outfit from Wigan.