Super League























































Super League

Current season or competition:
Super League XXIV
Super League logo
Sport Rugby league
Inaugural season 1996
Chair Robert Elstone
Number of teams 12
Countries
 England (11 teams)
 France (1 team)
Champions
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors (5th title) (2018)
Most titles
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos (8 titles)
Website rugby-league.com/superleague
Broadcast partner
Sky Sports (live matches)
BBC (highlights only)
Related competitions
Domestic Cup: Challenge Cup
International Cup(s): World Club Series
World Club Challenge
Relegation to Championship

Super League (currently known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons) is the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The league has twelve teams: eleven from England and one from France.


Super League began in 1996, replacing the Rugby Football League Championship and switching from a winter to a summer season. Each team plays 29 games between February and September: 11 home games, 11 away games, Magic Weekend and an additional 6 'loop fixtures' decided by league positions. The top five then enter the play-off series leading to the Grand Final which determines the champions. The bottom team is relegated to the Championship.


The Super League champions play the National Rugby League champions from Australasia in the World Club Challenge at the start of the season.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 1996–2001: Establishment


    • 1.2 2002–2008: Promotion and relegation


    • 1.3 2009–2014: Licensing


    • 1.4 2015–2018: Super 8s


    • 1.5 2019–onwards: One up one down




  • 2 Structure


    • 2.1 Super League regular season


      • 2.1.1 Magic Weekend




    • 2.2 Play-offs


    • 2.3 Grand Final


    • 2.4 Other competitions


      • 2.4.1 Challenge Cup






  • 3 Clubs


    • 3.1 Current clubs


    • 3.2 Former Super League clubs


    • 3.3 All Time Super League table


    • 3.4 Points deductions


    • 3.5 Academies


      • 3.5.1 Reserve league


      • 3.5.2 Dual registration


      • 3.5.3 Under 19s






  • 4 Champions


    • 4.1 Results


    • 4.2 The Double


    • 4.3 The Treble


    • 4.4 All Four Cups


    • 4.5 Teams relegated




  • 5 Awards


    • 5.1 League Leaders' Shield


    • 5.2 Super League Trophy


    • 5.3 Steve Prescott Man of Steel award


    • 5.4 Albert Goldthorpe Medal


    • 5.5 Super League Dream Team




  • 6 Coaches


    • 6.1 Head coaches with Super League titles




  • 7 Players


    • 7.1 Players to have made over 350 Super League Appearances


    • 7.2 Tries


    • 7.3 Points


    • 7.4 Winning captains


    • 7.5 Top Try Scorer by season


    • 7.6 Top Points Scorer by season




  • 8 Logo


  • 9 Sponsorship


  • 10 Competition rules


    • 10.1 Overseas quota and Federation-trained players


    • 10.2 Salary cap


    • 10.3 Squad announcement system




  • 11 Match officials


  • 12 Criticism


    • 12.1 Big Four dominance


    • 12.2 Licensing


    • 12.3 M62 Corridor




  • 13 Media coverage


    • 13.1 Television


      • 13.1.1 Highlights


      • 13.1.2 Magazines


      • 13.1.3 International




    • 13.2 Radio


    • 13.3 Internet




  • 14 See also


  • 15 References


    • 15.1 Inline


    • 15.2 General




  • 16 External links





History



1996–2001: Establishment


A "super league" competition was first mooted during the Australian Super League war as a way for Rupert Murdoch to gain the upper hand during the battle for broadcasting supremacy with the Australian Rugby League. Murdoch also approached the British clubs to form Super League. A large sum of money aided the decision, and the competition got under way in 1996. Part of the deal saw rugby league switch from a winter to a summer season. The 12 founding teams of Super League were:




  • Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls


  • Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers


  • Faxcolours.svg Halifax


  • Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos


  • Broncoscolours.png London Broncos


  • Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Bears


  • France colours.svg Paris Saint-Germain


  • Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles


  • Saintscolours.svg St. Helens


  • Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves


  • Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors


  • Workingtoncolours.svg Workington Town


Initially, several mergers between existing clubs were proposed:




  • Castleford, Wakefield Trinity and Featherstone Rovers would form Calder


  • Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers would form Hull


  • Salford and Oldham were to form Manchester


  • Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster were to form South Yorkshire


  • Warrington and Widnes were to form Cheshire


  • Whitehaven, Workington Town, Barrow and Carlisle would form Cumbria


They were to be included with the following stand-alone clubs: Bradford Northern, Halifax, Leeds, London Broncos, Paris Saint-Germain, St. Helens and Wigan.


However this proved so unpopular that only existing clubs were selected for the competition. The clubs finishing below 10th in the existing top flight were excluded, which meant Featherstone Rovers, Hull, Wakefield Trinity and Widnes were left out, as were pioneering club Keighley who had just won the Second Division Championship. London Broncos, who had come fourth in the Second Division, were "fast-tracked" in on commercial grounds. A new team, Paris Saint-Germain, was created to give a French dimension. Between 1998 and 2000 there was no relegation from Super League.



2002–2008: Promotion and relegation


After two years Paris were dropped from the competition. Promotion and relegation between Super League and the Rugby League National Leagues was re-introduced, and in 2002 the Super League Europe (SLE) governing body re-integrated fully into the Rugby Football League (RFL). In 2006, French side Catalans Dragons (also known as UTC or Les Catalans) from Perpignan joined the league, becoming the second non-English team to compete. To facilitate this move, two clubs were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 season: Leigh who finished bottom of the league were replaced by the one club coming up from the National Leagues and Widnes who finished 11th (and would have stayed up any other year) were dropped for Les Catalans, thus the number of clubs in Super League remained at 12.



2009–2014: Licensing



Super League licences were announced in May 2005 by the RFL as the new determinant of the Super League competition's participants from 2009 in place of promotion and relegation. The licences were awarded after consideration of more factors than just the on-the-field performance of a club.[1] After 2007 automatic promotion and relegation was suspended for Super League with new teams to be admitted on a licence basis with the term of the licence to start in 2009.[1]


The RFL stated that clubs applying to compete in Super League would be assessed by criteria in four areas (stadium facilities, finance and business performance, commercial and marketing and playing strength, including junior production and development) with the final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL board of directors.[2]


Successful applicants were licensed for three years of Super League competition and[3] three-yearly reviews of Super League membership took place to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful.[2]


Points attained by each club's application are translated into licence grades A, B or C. Clubs who achieved an A or B Licence would be automatically awarded a place in Super League, while those who achieved a C Licence underwent further scrutiny before the RFL decided who made the final cut.[4]


First licensing period



In June 2008, the RFL confirmed that Super League would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 in 2009,[5][6] and on 22 July 2008 the RFL confirmed the teams awarded licences.[7] The teams announced were the 12 existing Super League teams along with National League 1 teams, Celtic Crusaders and Salford. Celtic Crusaders becoming the first Welsh team to play in Super League and the only team to be awarded a licence who had never played in the Super League previously.


Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Leigh and Widnes all failed to attain a licence. Leigh and Widnes, especially, were disappointed with their exclusions with Leigh's chairman being extremely critical of the RFL.[8]


Second licensing period



For the 2012–14 seasons Championship sides Batley, Barrow, Featherstone Rovers, Halifax and Widnes all met the on-field criteria needed to submit an application,[9] but despite this only Barrow, Halifax and Widnes decided to submit an application.[10] On 31 March 2011 Widnes were awarded a Super League licence; Barrow, did not meet the criteria and were refused a licence; and Halifax's application was to be further considered alongside the other Super League clubs.[11]


The Rugby Football League's final decision was announced on 26 July 2011, Widnes would be joining thirteen existing Super League teams with Crusaders RL having withdrawn their application and Halifax not meeting the criteria.[12] Crusaders CEO Rod Findlay stated that the club's finances were not in a good enough condition to justify their place in Super League.[13] Halifax chairman Mark Steele was critical of the decision to award Wakefield a licence over themselves, saying "If you compare Belle Vue with the Shay, it's no contest; if you compare playing records, it's no contest; and if you compare the financial position, we have kept our head above water and they haven't."[13] Wakefield had been favourites to lose their licence before Crusaders' withdrawal.[13]



2015–2018: Super 8s



At the 2013 Annual General Meeting at Bradford, the Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs to 12 from 2015, and also for a return of Promotion and Relegation with a 12 club Championship.[14]


The 12 First Utility Super League and 12 Kingstone Press Championship clubs will play each other home and away over 22 "rounds", plus a Magic Weekend for both divisions, making a 23-game regular season. Following the conclusion of their regular league seasons, the 24 clubs will then compete in a play-off series where they split into 3 leagues of 8 based upon league position:[15][16]



  • The top 8 Super League clubs will continue to compete in the Super 8s. After playing each other once (either home or away), the top 4 clubs will progress to the semi-finals to determine who will compete in the Grand Final and be crowned champions.

  • The remaining (bottom 4) Super League clubs and the top 4 Championship clubs will compete in The Qualifiers. They will play each other once (either home or away) to determine which four of the clubs will compete in Super League the following year.


Funding for clubs will be tiered in both leagues to prevent relegation related financial difficulties.


In June 2015 8 of the 12 Super League clubs voted to allow a Marquee Player that can exceed a clubs salary cap as long as they can afford their wages. The marquee player rule came into force for the 2016 Super League season.



2019–onwards: One up one down


On 14 September 2018, an EGM was called to discuss the future of the sport and a change in structure, as the clubs were in favour of scrapping the Super 8s in favour of a more conventional structure. Two proposals were put forward: one by Super League and one by the Championship and League 1;


Super League proposal: The Super League proposed staying with 12 teams who play each other home and away plus Magic Weekend and 6 loop fixtures (29 games). They also proposed a return to a top-5 playoff and the 12th placed team being relegated.


Championship & League 1 proposal: The alternative proposal was that Super League would expand to 14 clubs playing 27 games ending with a top-5 playoff. The team finishing 14th would be relegated and 13th would play 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Championship in a relegation playoff.


After a vote, the Super League proposal was voted through and is due to be implemented for the 2019 season.



Structure



Super League regular season


12 teams compete in Super League. They play each other twice on a home-and-away basis, interrupted by the Magic Weekend round in May. The 12 clubs also play 6 loop fixtures to bring the number of games in a season to 29. The team finishing bottom after 29 rounds collects the Wooden Spoon, while the team finishing first is awarded the League Leaders Shield. The top 5 teams at the end of the season enter the playoffs.


Super League will be adopting Golden point during regular season for the first time as of the start of the 2019 season, bringing it in line with the NRL which has been using the system since 2003.[17]



Magic Weekend



In an attempt to expand out of the traditional rugby league "heartlands", and market the game to a wider audience, the RFL has staged games in large stadia, in places without a strong rugby league presence. The "Magic Weekend" concept, which involves staging an entire round of Super League in such a stadium, was first staged in Cardiff in 2007. Dubbed "Millennium Magic", and played in the Millennium Stadium, the concept was held in Cardiff again in 2008. In 2009 and 2010, the event was held in Edinburgh at the Scottish national rugby union stadium, giving rise to the name changing to "Murrayfield Magic". Generally held during the May Day weekend, 2011 saw the Magic Weekend return to Cardiff, and was held during the weekend 12–13 February, and serving as the season opener. from 2014-2018, the event was held at St James' Park in Newcastle.
In 2019, the event will be held at Anfield in Liverpool.



Play-offs



The play-offs have had various formats. St Helens are the only team to take part in every playoff series since the inaugural series in 1998


The current play-off system was previously used between 1998 and 2001. The same system was used in the NSWRL's Sydney Competition 1973-1994, the Australian Super League in its only season 1997, the VFL, 1972–1990 and New Zealand's Lion Red Cup, 1994–1996, and Bartercard Cup, 2000-2006.


From week two on the Top five play-offs system reflected exactly the Page playoff system.


The Top Five Super League Play-Off Structure:


Week One



  • Qualification Final: 2nd vs 3rd

  • Elimination Final: 4th vs 5th

  • Bye: 1


Week Two



  • Major Semi Final: 1st vs Winners of Qualification Final

  • Minor Semi Final: Losers of Qualification Final vs Winners of Elimination Final


Week Three



  • Preliminary Final: Losers of Major Semi Final vs Winners of Minor Semi Final

  • Bye: Winners of Major Semi Final


Week Four


  • Grand Final: Winners of Major Semi Final vs Winners of Preliminary Final








Grand Final






Leeds Rhinos celebrating following their 2008 Grand Final victory


The Grand Final is the championship-deciding game and showpiece event of the Super League season. It is held annually at Old Trafford.













City
Stadium
Years

England Manchester
Old Trafford 1998–present

Largest attendance















Year
City
Stadium
Attendance
2015
England Manchester
Old Trafford 73,512


Other competitions



Challenge Cup



The Challenge Cup is a separate cup competition, involving clubs from Super League and all levels of rugby league in Britain. It has been held annually since 1896 and has been expanded so teams in Russia, France, Scotland and Wales can take part. The cup runs throughout the season, and the final is usually played on the August bank holiday at Wembley Stadium.



Clubs





Current clubs


























































































































Super League clubs
Colours
Club
Established
City
Stadium
Capacity*

Titles (Last)**

Castleford colours.svg

Castleford Tigersa
1926

Castleford, West Yorkshire

Wheldon Road
11,775

0 (N/A)

Catalanscolours.svg

Catalans Dragons
2000

Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales

Gilbert Brutus Stadium
13,000

0 (N/A)

Giantscolours.svg

Huddersfield Giantsc
1870

Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Kirklees Stadium
24,500

7 (1962)

Hullcolours.svg

Hull F.C.c
1865

Hull, East Yorkshire

KCOM Stadium
25,400

6 (1983)

HKRcolours.svg

Hull Kingston Rovers
1882

Hull, East Yorkshire

KCOM Craven Park
12,225

5 (1985)

Rhinoscolours.svg

Leeds Rhinosabc
1872

Leeds, West Yorkshire

Headingley Stadium
21,062

11 (2017)


Broncoscolours.png


London Broncosa
1980

Ealing, London

Trailfinders Sports Ground
4,000
0 (N/A)

Redscolours.svg

Salford Red Devils
1873

Salford, Greater Manchester

Salford City Stadium
12,000

6 (1976)

Saintscolours.svg

St Helensabc
1873

St. Helens, Merseyside

Totally Wicked Stadium
18,000

13 (2014)

Wcatscolours.svg

Wakefield Trinityc
1873

Wakefield, West Yorkshire

The Mobile Rocket Stadium
9,333

2 (1968)

Wolvescolours.svg

Warrington Wolvesab
1876

Warrington, Cheshire

Halliwell Jones Stadium
15,200

3 (1955)

Wigancolours.svg

Wigan Warriorsabc
1872

Wigan, Greater Manchester

DW Stadium
25,133

22 (2018)

a: Founding member of the Super League
b: Appeared in every Super League season since 1996
c: One of the original 22 RFL teams


  • **includes Rugby Football League Championship titles won prior to the inaugural Super League season in 1996, which are officially considered to be part of the Super League lineage





Current Champions


Former Super League clubs






























































































Previous Super League clubs
Colours
Club
Seasons in
Super League
First season in
Super League
Last season in
Super League
Last top
division title**

Bullscolours.svg

Bradford Bulls
19
1996
2014
2005

Faxcolours.svg

Halifax
8
1996
2003
1985-86

Sheffeagles colours.svg

Sheffield Eagles
4
1996
1999
N/A

Cruscolours.svg

Crusaders §*
3
2009
2011
N/A

Leigh colours.svg

Leigh Centurions
2
2005
2017
1981-82

Oldhamcolours.svg

Oldham
2
1996
1997
1956-57

France colours.svg

Paris Saint-Germain §
2
1996
1997
N/A

Gthundercolours.svg

Gateshead Thunder §*
1
1999
1999
N/A

Widnes colours.svg

Widnes Vikings
11
2002
2018
1989

Workingtoncolours.svg

Workington Town
1
1996
1996
1950-51

  • § Denotes club now defunct


All Time Super League table



  • Correct up to end of 2017 season

  • Does not include games in The Qualifiers



















































































































































































































































































































































































Pos.
Club
Seasons
Playoffs
P
W
D
L
PF
PA
PD
Pts
Champions
Relegated
1
Wigancolours.svgWigan
22 18 599 422 24 184 18,102 11,363 6,739 862 22
2
Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens
22 20 599 416 15 168 18,214 11,940 6,274 845 13
3
Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds
22 19 592 383 15 194 17,025 12,579 4,446 781 11
4
Wolvescolours.svgWarrington
22 10 592 311 12 269 15,483 14,178 1,305 634 3
5
Bullscolours.svgBradford
19 11 509 308 17 184 14620 11253 3367 617 6 1
6
Hullcolours.svgHull F.C.
20 12 555 276 21 258 12,991 12,531 460 571 6
7
Castleford colours.svgCastleford
21 6 544 237 19 281 12,577 14,054 −1,477 493 2
8
Giantscolours.svgHuddersfield
19 8 520 224 13 283 12,049 12,669 620 461 7 1
9
Broncoscolours.png London
19 2 509 185 20 304 10793 14229 −3436 390 1
10
Wcatscolours.svgWakefield
19 3 524 189 6 329 10,842 14,059 −3,217 346 2
11
Redscolours.svgSalford
19 1 508 166 8 334 9,371 13,890 −4,519 332 6 1
12
Catalanscolours.svgCatalans
12 6 327 148 10 169 7,671 8,294 −623 306
13
HKRcolours.svg Hull KR
10 4 262 114 9 138 5,579 6,040 −461 237 5 1
14
Widnes colours.svgWidnes
10 1 269 94 8 166 5068 7,224 −2,156 196 3 1
15
Faxcolours.svg Halifax
8 1 209 76 4 129 4646 5908 −1262 154 4 1
16
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield
4 0 97 37 3 57 2027 2663 −636 77 1
17
Gthundercolours.svgGateshead §
1 0 30 19 1 10 775 576 199 39
18
Cruscolours.svgCrusaders* §
3 1 81 21 0 60 1431 2463 −1032 38
19
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham
2 0 44 13 2 29 934 1312 −378 28 4 1
20
France colours.svgParis §
2 0 44 9 1 34 760 1367 −607 19 1
21
Leigh colours.svgLeigh
2 0 45 8 1 42 954 1144 −190 17 2 2
22
Workingtoncolours.svg Workington
1 0 22 2 1 19 325 1021 −696 5 1



















Current club

Current Championship club

Current League 1 club
§
Clubs that no longer exist


Points deductions
























































































Year
Club
Points
Reason
2001
Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity
2 Salary Cap Breach
2003
Faxcolours.svg Halifax
2 Salary Cap Breach

Hullcolours.svg Hull F.C.
2 Salary Cap Breach

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2 Salary Cap Breach
2006
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
2 Salary Cap Breach

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2 Salary Cap Breach
2007
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
2 Salary Cap Breach

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
4 Salary Cap Breach
2011
Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity
4 Administration

Cruscolours.svg Crusaders
4 Administration
2012
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
6 Administration
2013
Redscolours.svg Salford Red Devils
2 Fielding Extra Man
2014
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
6 Administration
2016
Redscolours.svg Salford Red Devils
6 Salary Cap Breach


Academies



Reserve league



In 2014 and 2015 Super League clubs were unhappy with the Dual registration system and wanted to form an under-23 reserve leagues between the under-19s and first teams. Wigan, Warrington and St Helens were the first teams to propose the return of the reserve league where players could move from the under 19s and play with professional players before playing in the first team. A reserve league was set up in 2016 with a mixture of Super League, Championship and League 1 teams.



Dual registration



Dual registration refers to an arrangement between clubs whereby a player continues to be registered to his current Super League club and is also registered to play for a club in the Championship. The system is aimed at young Super League players who are thought to be not quite ready to make the step up to 'week in, week out' Super League first team duties but for whom first team match experience is likely to be beneficial for their development.[18]



  • Only Super League players can be dual registered and the receiving club must be a club in the Championships, meaning that Super League to Super League club dual registrations are not available.

  • A dual registered player will be eligible to play and train with both clubs in a format agreed between the clubs, subject to registration, salary cap and competition eligibility rules.

  • The player is restricted to playing in one fixture per scheduled round of fixtures in any given week and would not be eligible to play for his Super League club on a Thursday and in a Championship fixture at the weekend, for example.

  • A receiving club will be limited to a total of five dual registered players per matchday squad.



Under 19s



In 2017 the following teams will run in each of the Senior Academy divisions:[19]Super League Academy – U19s:


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  • Bradford Bulls

  • Castleford Tigers

  • Catalans Dragons

  • Huddersfield Giants

  • City of Hull Academy

  • Leeds Rhinos

  • London Broncos






  • Newcastle Thunder

  • St. Helens

  • Wakefield Trinity

  • Warrington Wolves

  • Widnes Vikings

  • Wigan Warriors





Champions




See Rugby Football League Championship for the all-time list of champions since 1895.


The league format changed in 1998 and the championship became a play-off series to determine the Super League champions. This meant a reintroduction of a final to determine the European champions, the first since the 1972–73 season.


















































































































































































Season
Champions
Score
Runners-up
League Leaders

I


Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens

N/A

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

N/A

II


Bullscolours.svgBradford Bulls

N/A

Broncoscolours.png London Broncos

N/A

III


Wigancolours.svgWigan Warriors
10–4

Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

IV


Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens
8–6

Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

V


Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens
29–16

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

VI


Bullscolours.svgBradford Bulls
37–6

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

VII


Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens
19–18

Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

VIII


Bullscolours.svgBradford Bulls
25–12

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

IX


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
16–8

Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

X


Bullscolours.svgBradford Bulls
15–6

Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

XI


Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens
26–4

Hullcolours.svg Hull

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

XII


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
33–6

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

XIII


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
24–16

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

XIV


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
18–10

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

XV


Wigancolours.svgWigan Warriors
22–10

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

XVI


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
32–16

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves

XVII


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
26–18

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

XVIII


Wigancolours.svgWigan Warriors
30–16

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves

Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants

XIX


Saintscolours.svgSt. Helens
14–6

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

XX


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
22–20

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

XXI


Wigancolours.svgWigan Warriors
12-6

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves

XXII


Rhinoscolours.svgLeeds Rhinos
24-6

Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers

Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers

XXIII


Wigancolours.svgWigan Warriors
12-4

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

XXIV

TBD
-
TBD
TBD


Results

































































Club
Wins
Runners
up
Winning Years
1
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
8 2 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017
2
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
6 5
1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014
3
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
5 6
1998, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018
4
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
4 3
1997, 2001, 2003, 2005
5
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
0 4 N/A
6
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
0 1 N/A

Hullcolours.svg Hull
0 1 N/A

Broncoscolours.png London Broncos
0 1 N/A


The Double



In rugby league, the term 'the Double' is referring to the achievement of a club that wins the top division and Challenge Cup in the same season. To date, this has been achieved by a total ten different clubs but by only four different clubs during the Super League era.






































































Club
Wins
Winning years
1
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
7 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93,
1993–94, 1994–95, 2013
2
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
3 1965–66, 1996, 2006
3
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
2 1912–13, 1914–15
4
Barrowcolours.svg Broughton Rangers
1 1901–02
5
Faxcolours.svg Halifax
1 1902–03
6
Hunsletcolours.svgHunslet F.C. §
1 1907–08
7
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions
1 1927–28
8
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
1 1953–54
9
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
1 2003
10
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
1 2015


The Treble



The Treble refers to the team who wins all three domestic honours on offer during the season; Grand Final, League Leaders' Shield and Challenge Cup. To date seven teams have won the treble, only Bradford Bulls, St. Helens and Leeds Rhinos have won the treble in the Super League era.




















































Club
Wins
Winning years
1
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
3 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95
2
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
2 1912–13, 1914–15
3
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
2 1965–66, 2006
4
Hunsletcolours.svgHunslet F.C. §
1 1907–08
5
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions
1 1927–28
6
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
1 2003
7
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
1 2015


All Four Cups



Winning all Four Cups refers to winning the Super League, League Leaders' Shield, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge in one season. Not all of these cups were available in the past but have replaced other cups that could be won.














































Club
Wins
Winning years
1
Hunsletcolours.svgHunslet F.C. §
1 1907–08
2
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
1 1914–15
3
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton Lions
1 1927–28
4
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
1 1994–95
5
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
1 2003–04
6
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
1 2006–07


Teams relegated

































































Year
Club

1996

Workingtoncolours.svg Workington Town

1997

Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham Bears

1998–2000 no relegation

2001

Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants

2002

Redscolours.svg Salford City Reds

2003

Faxcolours.svg Halifax

2004

Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers

2005

Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings
Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions

2006

Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers

2007

Redscolours.svg Salford City Reds

2008–2013 no relegation
Cruscolours.svg Crusaders RL lost their licence
at the end of 2011 season

2014

Broncoscolours.png London Broncos
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

2015
None

2016

HKRcolours.svg Hull Kingston Rovers

2017

Leigh colours.svg Leigh Centurions

2018

Widnes colours.svg Widnes Vikings


Awards



League Leaders' Shield



The League Leaders' Shield is awarded to the team finishing the regular season top of Super League; this is also known as a minor premiership. The League Leader's Shield was introduced only in 2003, previously no prize was awarded to the team finishing top following the introduction of the Grand Final.




















































Club
Wins
Winning years
1
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
8 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018
2
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
4 1998, 2000, 2010, 2012
3
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
4 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003
4
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
3 2004, 2009, 2015
5
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
2 2011, 2016
6
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
1 2013
7
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
1 2017


Super League Trophy




Super League Trophy


The winner of the Grand Final is given the Super League Trophy as Super League Champions. This is considered more prestigious than the minor premiership. Each year, the year of a champion team's triumph, team name and team Rugby league football captain are engraved.


The record for most Super League titles won is held by Leeds with eight titles. Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield currently holds the record for captaining the most Super League title winning sides after captaining Leeds to their first 7 grand final successes. St. Helens contested the final 6 years in a row (from 2006 until 2011) during which time they succeeded only once in lifting the trophy against Hull F.C. in 2006; after which they suffered consecutive defeats against Leeds in 2007, 2008, 2009, Wigan in 2010 and Leeds once again in 2011. However, St. Helens made a victorious return in 2014, defeating rivals, Wigan 14–6.


Following their 2014 and 2015 defeats to St. Helens and Leeds respectively, Wigan have now equalled St Helens's record of losing five Grand Finals. Hull FC (2006), Warrington (2012, 2013, 2016, and 2018), and Castleford (2017) have all appeared in the Grand Final but never won.



Steve Prescott Man of Steel award



The Man of Steel Award is an annual award for the best player of the season in Super League. It has continued from pre-Super League times, with the first such award given in 1977. It was renamed in honour of Steve Prescott in 2014.



Albert Goldthorpe Medal



The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award voted for be members of the press who cast a vote after every game of the regular season. The three players who, in the opinion of the reporter, have been the three 'best and fairest' players in the game will receive three points, two points and one point respectively. To be eligible for a vote, a player must not have been suspended from the competition at any stage during the season.



Super League Dream Team



Each season a "Dream Team" is also named. The best thirteen players in their respective positions are voted for by members of the sports press. The 2018 dream team is as follows:
























































































Player
Team
Appearance

1

Australia Ben Barba

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1

2

England Tommy Makinson

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2

3

England Mark Percival

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
2

4

Tonga Bill Tupou

Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity
1

5

Scotland Tom Johnstone

Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity
1

6

England Jonny Lomax

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1

7

England Danny Richardson

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1

8

England Luke Thompson

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1

9

England James Roby

Saintscolours.svg St Helens
6

10

France Remi Casty

Catalanscolours.svg Catalans Dragons
2

11

England John Bateman

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
1

12

England Matty Ashurst

Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity
1

13

England Sean O'Loughlin

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
7


Coaches






























































































Nat.
Name
Club
Appointed
Time as head coach
England Daryl Powell
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
7 May 2013
7003217000000000000♠5 years, 344 days
England Steve McNamara
Catalanscolours.svg Catalans Dragons
19 June 2017
7002666000000000000♠1 year, 301 days
Australia Simon Woolford
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
29 April 2018
7002352000000000000♠352 days
England Lee Radford
Hullcolours.svg Hull
25 September 2013
7003202900000000000♠5 years, 203 days
Australia Tim Sheens
HKRcolours.svg Hull Kingston Rovers
1 September 2016
7002957000000000000♠2 years, 227 days
Australia David Furner
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
8 September 2018
7002220000000000000♠220 days
England Danny Ward
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos
6 November 2017
7002526000000000000♠1 year, 161 days
Wales Ian Watson
Redscolours.svg Salford Red Devils
3 September 2015
7003132100000000000♠3 years, 225 days
Australia Justin Holbrook
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
4 May 2017
7002712000000000000♠1 year, 347 days
England Chris Chester
Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity
16 March 2016
7003112600000000000♠3 years, 31 days
Australia Steve Price
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
6 October 2017
7002557000000000000♠1 year, 192 days
Papua New Guinea
Adrian Lam *

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
14 October 2018
7002184000000000000♠184 days

  • Interim head coach


Head coaches with Super League titles


The Super League has been won by 13 different coaches, 8 from Australia, 4 from England and 1 from New Zealand.
























































































Head Coach
Wins
Winning years
1
England Brian McDermott
4 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017
2
England Brian Noble
3 2001, 2003, 2005
3
England Shaun Wane
3 2013, 2016, 2018
4
Australia Ian Millward
2 2000, 2002
5
Australia Tony Smith
2 2004, 2007
6
New Zealand Brian McClennan
2 2008, 2009
7
Australia Shaun McRae
1 1996
8
Australia Matthew Elliott
1 1997
9
Australia John Monie
1 1998
10
England Ellery Hanley
1 1999
11
Australia Daniel Anderson
1 2006
12
Australia Michael Maguire
1 2010
13
Australia Nathan Brown
1 2014


Players



  • Statistics are correct as of October 2018 (end of Super League XIII).


Players to have made over 350 Super League Appearances




Kevin Sinfield made 454 Super League appearances for Leeds Rhinos between 1997 and 2015



  • Note that appearances from the bench are also included in this list. Excluding appearances in Qualifiers


  • Bold indicates players still active in Super League


  • Italics indicates players still active but not in Super League











































































































































































Rank Player Years Club(s) Appearances
1

England Kevin Sinfield
1997–2015

Leeds
454
2

England Andy Lynch
1999–2017

Castleford, Bradford, Hull FC, Castleford
452
3

England Paul Wellens
1998–2015

St Helens
443
4

England Jamie Peacock
1998–2015

Bradford, Leeds
438
5=

England Rob Burrow
2001–2017

Leeds
431
5=

England Leon Pryce
1998–2016

Bradford, St Helens, Hull FC, Catalans
431
7=

England Danny Tickle
2000–2018

Halifax, Wigan, Hull FC, Widnes, Castleford, Leigh, Hull KR
419
7=

England Ben Westwood
1999–present

Wakefield, Warrington
419
9

England Keith Senior
1996– 2011

Sheffield, Leeds
413
10

England Lee Gilmour
1997–2014

Wigan, Bradford, St Helens, Huddersfield, Castleford, Wakefield
412
11

Wales Lee Briers
1997–2013

St Helens, Warrington
402
12

England Danny McGuire
2001–present

Leeds, Hull KR
386
13

England James Roby
2004–present

St Helens
385
14

England Paul Deacon
1997–2011

Oldham, Bradford, Wigan
384
15

Wales Keiron Cunningham
1996–2010

St Helens
382
16

England Danny Orr
1997–2012

Castleford, Wigan, Harlequins RL, Castleford
381
17

England Jon Wilkin
2003–2018

St Helens
380
18

England Sean O'Loughlin
2002–present

Wigan
376
19

England Jon Clarke
1997–2014

Wigan, London, Warrington, Widnes
360
20

England Stuart Fielden
1998–2013

Bradford, Wigan, Huddersfield
359
21

England Jamie Jones-Buchanan
1999–present

Leeds
358
22

England Richard Horne
1999–2014

Hull
353
23

England Mickey Higham
2001–2017

St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Leigh
352


Tries













































Rank Player Years Clubs Tries
1

England Danny McGuire
2001–present

Leeds, Hull KR
245
2=

England Paul Wellens
1998–2015

St Helens
199
2=

England Keith Senior
1996–2011

Sheffield, Leeds
199
4

England Ryan Hall
2007–2018

Leeds
196
5

England Ryan Atkins
2005–present

Wakefield, Warrington
184



Points













































Rank Player Years Clubs Points
1

England Kevin Sinfield
1997–2015

Leeds
3,443
2

England Paul Deacon
1997–2011

Oldham, Bradford, Wigan
2,415
3

England Andrew Farrell
1996–2004

Wigan
2,372
4

Scotland Danny Brough
2005–present

Hull FC, Castleford,
Wakefield x2, Huddersfield
2,303
5

Australia Pat Richards
2006–2013, 2016

Wigan, Catalans
2,280


Winning captains


10 players have captained teams to win the Super League.






































































Captain
Wins
Winning years
1
England Kevin Sinfield
7 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
2
England Sean O'Loughlin
4 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018
3
England Chris Joynt
3 1999, 2000, 2002
4
New Zealand Robbie Paul
3 1997, 2001, 2003
5
England Bobbie Goulding
1 1996
6
England Andy Farrell
1 1998
7
England Jamie Peacock
1 2005
8
England Sean Long
1 2006
9
England Paul Wellens
1 2014
10
England Danny McGuire
1 2017


Top Try Scorer by season



















































































































































Year
Player
Tries
Team
1996
England Paul Newlove
28
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1997
New Zealand Nigel Vagana
17
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
1998
Wales Anthony Sullivan
20
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1999
New Zealand Toa Kohe-Love
25
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
2000
England Sean Long & England Tommy Martyn
22 both Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2001
England Kris Radlinski
27
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2002
Australia Dennis Moran
22
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos
2003
Australia Dennis Moran
24
Broncoscolours.png London Broncos
2004
New Zealand Lesley Vainikolo
36
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
2005
England Mark Calderwood
27
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
2006
Australia Justin Murphy
25
Catalanscolours.svg Catalans Dragons
2007
Samoa Henry Fa'afili
21
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
2008
England Ade Gardner
26
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2009
England Ryan Hall
29
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
2010
Australia Pat Richards
29
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2011
England Ryan Hall & England Sam Tomkins
28
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos & Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2012
England Josh Charnley
31
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2013
England Josh Charnley
33
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2014
Australia Joel Monaghan
28
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
2015
England Jermaine McGillvary
27
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
2016
New Zealand Denny Solomona
40
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
2017
England Greg Eden
38
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
2018
Australia Ben Barba
28
Saintscolours.svg St Helens


Top Points Scorer by season



















































































































































Year
Player
Points
Team
1996
England Bobbie Goulding
257
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
1997
England Andy Farrell
243
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
1998
Wales Iestyn Harris
333
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
1999
Wales Iestyn Harris
325
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
2000
England Sean Long
352
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2001
England Andy Farrell
388
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2002
England Paul Deacon
301
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
2003
England Paul Deacon
286
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
2004
New Zealand Kevin Sinfield
277
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos
2005
England Paul Deacon
322
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls
2006
Australia Jamie Lyon
316
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2007
Australia Pat Richards
248
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2008
Australia Pat Richards
269
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2009
Australia Pat Richards
252
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2010
Australia Pat Richards
388
Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
2011
England Jamie Foster
330
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
2012
Australia Scott Dureau
281
Catalanscolours.svg Catalans Dragons
2013
Scotland Danny Brough
208
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield Giants
2014
England Marc Sneyd
224
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
2015
England Luke Gale
247
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
2016
England Luke Gale
262
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
2017
England Luke Gale
317
Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers
2018
England Danny Richardson
296
Saintscolours.svg St Helens






Super League logo until 2016


The Super League has had two official logos. The first was used for the inaugural season in 1996 and until 2016. The logo had the Super League S with Super above it and League below it. The title sponsors name would appear above the logo until 2014 when title sponsors First Utility used their own personalised logos that appeared on player shirts and in the media. The reigning champions had a ribbon around the logo with champions on it until 2011.




2017 rebrand


The second official logo was introduced in 2017 as part of a radical rebrand across British rugby league. The design was similar to the RFL and England logos. It had a rectangular backdrop representing the George Hotel, where rugby league was founded, thirteen lines representing thirteen players, a chevron which are well known for appearing on rugby league shirts and the S which represents the ball and the Super League. The current champions have a gold logo.



Sponsorship




Sponsorship logo used in media and on players shirts



Super League has been sponsored since its formation, apart from the 2013 season.


The title sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been seven different title sponsors since the league's formation:
















































Period
Sponsor
Name
1996–1997

Stones Bitter

Stones Super League
1998–1999

JJB Sports

JJB Super League
2000–2004

Tetley's Bitter

Tetley's Super League
2005–2011

Engage Mutual Assurance

Engage Super League
2012

Stobart Group

Stobart Super League
2013

no sponsor

Super League
2014–2016

First Utility

First Utility Super League
2017-2019

Betfred

Betfred Super League

As well as title sponsorship, Super League has a number of official partners and suppliers.[20] For the 2017 season these include Kingstone Press Cider, Dacia, Foxy Bingo, Batchelors and Specsavers.


The official rugby ball supplier is Steeden[21].



Competition rules



Overseas quota and Federation-trained players


An overseas quota restricting the maximum number of foreign players at each club has existed since the inception of the Super League in 1996.[22] However, overseas players that hold a European Union passport or come under the Kolpak ruling do not count towards the quota. This resulted in the number of non-British players at some clubs greatly exceeding the quota.


In response to concerns over the growing number of foreign players in the league, in 2007, the RFL announced plans to introduce a "homegrown player" rule to encourage clubs to develop their own players.[23] As of 2017, Super League clubs are permitted to register no more than five overseas players. Additionally, squads are also limited to a maximum of seven non-Federation trained players.[24]



Salary cap


A salary cap was first introduced to the Super League in 1998, with clubs being allowed to spend up to 50 percent of their income on player wages. From the 2002 season onwards, the cap became a fixed ceiling of £1.8 million in order to increase parity within the league.[25]


The Super League operates under a real-time salary cap system that will calculate a club's salary cap position at the start of and throughout the season:[26]



  • The combined earnings of the top 25 players must not exceed £1.825 million.

  • Clubs will only be allowed to sign a new player if they have room under the cap.

  • Clubs are allowed to spend a maximum of £50,000 on players outside the top 25 earners who have made at least one first grade appearance for the club during the year.

  • Costs for players outside of the top 25 earners who do not make a first team appearance will be unregulated.

  • Any player who has played for the same club for at least 10 consecutive seasons will have half their salary excluded from the salary cap for his 11th and subsequent seasons. This is subject to a maximum of £50,000 for any one club.

  • Clubs are allowed one "Marquee Player" who can exceed a club's salary cap as long as they can afford the players wages.


In 2017, Super League clubs approved proposals to increase the salary cap over the next three seasons, eventually rising to £2.1 million by 2020. Clubs will also be allowed to sign a second marquee player.[27]



Squad announcement system


Before each Super League and Tetley's Challenge Cup fixture, each club must announce the squad of 19 players it will choose from by 2.00pm on the second day before the match day.[26]



Match officials



All Super League matches are governed by the laws set out by the RFL; these laws are enforced by match officials. Former Super League and International Referee Steve Ganson is the current Head of Match Officials and Technical Director. Former Hull F.C. player and Huddersfield Head Coach Jon Sharp was the previous Head of Match Officials. Sharp was sacked in July 2015 and took up the role of Head Coach at Featherstone Rovers. He assumed his role at the RFL following Stuart Cummings' departure in March 2013 having previously held the role of Match Officials Coach & Technical Director.



Criticism



Big Four dominance






















































































































Results of the 'Big Four' during 1996-2009
Season
Bullscolours.svg Bradford Bulls

Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors
1996 3 10 Champions Runners up
1997 Champions 5 3 4
1998 5 Runners up 4 Champions
1999 Runners up 3 Champions 4
2000 3 4 Champions Runners up
2001 Champions 5 4 Runners up
2002 Runners up 4 Champions 3
2003 Champions 2 4 Runners up
2004 Runners up Champions 5 4
2005 Champions Runners up 1 7
2006 4 3 Champions 8
2007 3 Champions Runners up 6
2008 5 Champions Runners up 4
2009 9 Champions Runners up 6
Titles 4 4 5 1


















































































Results of the 'Big Four' since 2010
Season
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos

Saintscolours.svg St. Helens

Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors

Wolvescolours.svg Warrington Wolves
2010 4 Runners up Champions 3
2011 Champions Runners up 2 1
2012 Champions 3 1 Runners up
2013 3 5 Champions Runners up
2014 6 Champions Runners up 5
2015 Champions 4 Runners up 6
2016 9 4 Champions Runners up
2017 Champions 4 6 9
2018 9 1 Champions Runners up
Titles 4 1 4 0

Since its formation in 1996 only four teams have won the Super League (Bradford Bulls, Leeds Rhinos, St. Helens and Wigan Warriors). Also, only a total of seven teams have taken part in the Grand Final (Hull FC, Castleford and Warrington Wolves being the other three). Seven different teams have been the league leaders, however only one of these (Huddersfield Giants in 2013) is a different team to those that have appeared in the grand final, meaning that only eight different teams have been involved in the grand final or topped the regular season table, however, a total of 23 teams have taken part in Super League since its inception.


In comparison, in the same 22-year period, 12 different teams have won the Australasian National Rugby League competition and 15 different teams have appeared in the Grand Final.



Licensing


Between 2009 and 2014 teams had to apply for a license to play in Super League, this also meant there was no automatic promotion between Super League and the Championship. This was unpopular with Championship clubs because there was no fair and easy way for them to get promoted into Super League and it was seen as a closed shop.


Attendances in the lower divisions dropped as a result of this system because it was felt that there was little appeal in these leagues when there was no incentive for the clubs to win the Championship. Also the only time that lower division clubs got the chance to play Super League opposition was in the early rounds of the challenge cup. With no route to the Super League however, teams were unable to compete with top division opposition because there was no way that clubs could attract top talent when players would not be playing in top-level rugby league.



M62 Corridor



Another Criticism of the Super League is that most of the teams that have competed in it have been in its heartlands of the M62 Corridor between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Catalans Dragons are the only team currently playing in Super League who are outside its traditional headland in the North of England and are considered a success compared to teams such as London Broncos and Celtic Crusaders.


Expansion was a key policy of the RFL when Super League was created. Along with the above-mentioned teams, Paris Saint-Germain RL competed from the beginning of the competition but departed after just two seasons due to a lack of interest and investment. Another team to fail from outside the heartlands was Gateshead Thunder who competed in the first season of Super League. After that first season they found themselves with debts of £700,000 and so accepted a grant of £1,250,000 to merge with Hull FC.


Expansion has taken place in the lower divisions and this is a continuing policy of the RFL. At present nine expansion clubs take part in the lower divisions with 1 in the Championship and 8 in the Championship 1. In 2015, it was announced that Toulouse Olympique had been granted entry into League 1, the third division of European rugby league; the team has previously competed in the Championship. This brought the total number of expansion teams across the top 3 divisions to 10 (out of 39 clubs). In 2016 it was announced that a team based in Toronto, Canada had also been granted access to League 1. Toronto Wolfpack will begin play in the 2017 season and will take the number of expansion clubs to 11 (out of 40 clubs). This also means that teams taking part in the top 3 divisions will come from 4 countries and 2 continents.



Media coverage



Television


Sky Sports have been the primary broadcast partner of Super League since its inaugural season in 1996. The current deal lasts until 2021 and covers 80 matches per season, rising to 100 from 2015. They currently have the rights to show live Super League games in both Ireland and the United Kingdom; two live matches are broadcast each week – one on Thursday nights at 7:30pm (kick off 8pm) and another at 7:30pm on Friday nights (kick off 8pm). From 2014, they also simulcast all of Catalans Dragons' home games and from 2015, will broadcast regular Kingstone Press Championship matches.











Duration
Broadcaster
1996–2021

Sky Sports

Detailed Sky coverage




  • Super League Thursday starts at 7:30 pm and consists of a preview of the weekends Super League fixtures before the first game of the weekend.


  • Super League Friday includes one game with coverage starting at 7:30pm building up to the game.


  • Super League Saturday usually shows Catalans Dragons games kicking off at 5:00pm with coverage starting from 4:55pm. When the Super 8s begging other teams are shown with coverage starting at 2:30pm for games kicking off at 5:00pm.



Highlights


In addition to Sky Sports' live coverage, BBC Sport broadcast a weekly highlights programme called the Super League Show, usually presented by Tanya Arnold. This is broadcast to the North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on BBC 1 on Monday nights (after 11pm) and is repeated nationally on BBC 2 on Tuesday afternoons.[28] A national repeat was first broadcast overnight during the week since February 2008 when the then BBC Director of Sport, Roger Mosey, commented that this move was in response to the growing popularity and awareness of the sport, and the large number of requests from people who want to watch it elsewhere in the UK. The end of season play-off series is shown nationwide in a highlights package. The Super League Show is also available for streaming or download using the BBC iPlayer in the UK.













Highlights programme
Duration
Broadcaster

Super League Show
1999–Present

BBC


Magazines


Regular commentator is Eddie Hemmings and formerly Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Live Super League broadcasts regularly rank amongst the top 10 most watched programmes in a week on Sky Sports with in excess of 250,000 viewers.[29] Sky Sports also run several supplementary magazine shows, including Super League Full Time and Boots N' All.


Premier Sports and Made in Leeds show a rugby league magazine program called Rugby AM hosted by Alex Simmons, Jamie Jones Buchanan and Keith Senior. It is aired on a Thursday night at 7 and is also repeated on Saturday. Rugby AM also has a radio show on All Star FM.



International


Internationally Super League is shown live by eight different broadcasters in eight different countries and regions.









































Country/ Region
Broadcaster
Middle East

OSN
North Africa

 France

beIn Sports

 New Zealand

Sky Sport

Māori Television

 United States

Fox Soccer Plus

 Brazil

BandSports

 Russia

NTV+
Balkans

Sportklub

 Australia

Fox League


Radio


Talksport is an official broadcaster of Super League, broadcasting commentaries and magazine programming on Talksport 2. BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra covers more than 70 Super League games through 5 Live Rugby League each Thursday and Friday night.[30] Each 3 hour programme is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and in addition to live commentary also includes interviews and debate. A 5 Live Rugby League podcast is available to download each week from the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrtxd/episodes/downloads.


Super League is also covered extensively by BBC Local Radio:























Station
Area

BBC Radio Humberside
Hull

BBC Radio Leeds
West Yorkshire

BBC Radio Manchester
Salford, Wigan and Warrington.

BBC Radio Merseyside
St Helens, Warrington and Widnes.

The competition is also covered on commercial radio stations:



  • Radio Yorkshire cover two matches per round featuring Yorkshire clubs.

  • BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) have full match commentary on Bradford home and away.


  • Wish FM have full match commentary on Wigan and St Helens matches home and away.


  • Wire FM have full match commentary of Warrington amatches home and away.

  • Grand Sud FM covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (in French).

  • Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (in French).


All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.



Internet


ESPN3, formerly ESPN360, has had worldwide broadband rights since 2007 when they broadcast the 2007 Grand Final.


Since 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports have also been available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand.[31] In 2016 Livestation shut down, however these matches are also available online for UK users only through Sky Go and Now TV.


In the United Kingdom, a number of commercial radio stations, along with BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and the local BBC radio stations simulcast commentary of Super League games on the internet. Additionally, the 5 Live Rugby League podcast is available to download each week from the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrtxd/episodes/downloads.



See also




  • Super League records

  • List of current and former Super League venues

  • Super League Ultimate 13: Grand Final Team

  • British rugby league system



References



Inline





  1. ^ ab BBC Sport (19 May 2005). "Super League set for 2009 changes". BBC. Retrieved 18 July 2008..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ ab RFL. "Licensing". The Rugby Football League. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2008.


  3. ^ BBC Sport (22 May 2005). "Franchise system 'is way forward'". BBC. Retrieved 18 July 2008.


  4. ^ Angela Powers. "Licence to thrill". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2008.


  5. ^ Gary Slater (18 June 2008). "Super League to expand to 14". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2008.


  6. ^ Sky Sports (17 June 2008). "Super League set to expand". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 July 2008.


  7. ^ BBC Sport (16 July 2008). "Clubs confident over franchises". BBC. Retrieved 18 July 2008.


  8. ^ Ian Laybourn. "Leigh blast for Super League". Sporting Life. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2008.


  9. ^ BBC Sport (8 October 2010). "Five clubs in Super League queue". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2011.


  10. ^ BBC Sport (3 December 2010). "Widnes, Halifax and Barrow meet Super League deadline". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2011.


  11. ^ "Vikings awarded Super League licence". Super League Official. 31 March 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.


  12. ^ "Thirteen Super League licences awarded for 2012 to 2014". RFL. Retrieved 7 August 2011.


  13. ^ abc BBC Sport (26 July 2011). "Crusaders withdraw application for Super League place". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2011.


  14. ^ Super League to become a 12-team competition from 2015. Superleague.co.uk (11 July 2013). Retrieved on 20 August 2013.


  15. ^ http://media.therfl.co.uk/docs/Policy%20Review%20-%20September%202013.pdf


  16. ^ "Super League: Competition restructures confirmed". 17 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2017 – via www.bbc.com.


  17. ^ BBC Sport (2018-11-19). "Super League: Golden-point extra time introduced for regular season from 2019". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2018-11-19.


  18. ^ Wilson, Andy (9 February 2013). "Debate continues over Super League and Championship dual registration". Retrieved 25 January 2017 – via The Guardian.


  19. ^ "Match Centre - Rugby-League.com". Retrieved 25 January 2017.


  20. ^ [1]


  21. ^ https://www.rugby-league.com/article/54111/steeden-become-official-match-ball-partner


  22. ^ Hadfield, Dave (24 January 1996). "Tries to be given trial by television". The Independent. Retrieved 4 July 2017.


  23. ^ Hadfield, Dave (5 February 2007). "Overseas quotas on clubs' agenda". The Independent. Retrieved 4 July 2017.


  24. ^ "Operational Rules". The Rugby Football League. Retrieved 4 July 2017.


  25. ^ Fisher, Michael (12 January 2001). "Salary cap to be squeezed to £1.8m". Telegraph. Retrieved 6 July 2017.


  26. ^ ab "Competition Structure". The RFL. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)


  27. ^ Bower, Aaron (5 April 2017). "Super League clubs vote for salary cap rise and second marquee player". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2017.


  28. ^ "BBC Super League Show: New series starts on 10 February". 7 February 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.


  29. ^ "Triline Sports". Triline Sports. Archived from the original on 23 September 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2007.


  30. ^ "Super League: BBC Radio 5 live sports extra to air new show". 4 February 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.


  31. ^ List of Super League games available on Livestation.com




General



  • Caplan, Phil; Doidge, Jonathan R. (2006). Super League – the first ten years. The History Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-3698-2.


External links



  • superleague.co.uk

  • RFL Super League coverage

  • Scores from Sky Sports

  • Rugby League Fans Forum

  • RLFANS.COM Rugby League Fans Forum














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