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 The record-breaking start to the 30th Super League season has hit new peaks with bumper attendances across the Easter weekend.
An aggregate of 86,080 across the six fixtures from Thursday to Saturday was a new record for a single six-match round of matches since the Super League was launched in 1996, beating the previous best of 83,357 which was set over Easter two years ago.
It was the second best attended round of fixtures in those 30 seasons, behind only one seven-match round from the seasons when the competition consisted of 14 teams – Easter 2012, which had an aggregate gate of 88,455. |
Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Mon 21st Apr 2025 9:42 AM | Views : 9410 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 The final game of the Rivals round was a bottom of the table
affair as eleventh placed and embattled Salford red Devils travelled to the south
of France to face a Catalans Dragons who themselves were languishing in ninth
place after a poor start to the season, which has seen them with just three wins
in seven outings.
The Dragons were handicapped by sixteen points on the coupon
with the bookies and pundits alike, unable to see anything other than a decent
sized win for the home side.
The two sides had already met in 2025, the Dragons winning
by 20-12 to eliminate Salford from the Challenge Cup at the quarter finals
stage, the last two league meetings between the two sides in Perpignan saw
Salford leaving without scoring a single point.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sat 19th Apr 2025 7:54 PM | Views : 3482 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 Two sides whose quarter year report reads ‘could do better’ met at the Leigh Sports Village on Easter Saturday as the Rivals round pitched
the Leigh Leopards against the Warrington Wolves as sixth hosted eighth.
A win would lift Leigh into fourth above St Helens and Leeds
Rhinos, a win for the Wolves would see them take Leigh’s sixth spot pushing the
Leopards out of the six.
Leigh were slight favourites with the bookies, handicapped
by two points on the coupon, but the promise was for a close match between two
sides both desperate for the points to keep them in touch with the sides at the
top of the table.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sat 19th Apr 2025 3:30 PM | Views : 3689 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 The final game of the Good Friday Rivas round of Super
League XXX was the one that the bookies were tipping to be the most one-sides,
the Rhinos handicapped by twenty-four points on the coupon as they took on
bottom side and winless Huddersfield Giants who are in the depths of a chronic
injury crisis.
Honours were shared between the two sides in 2024, the
Giants winning the round eight encounter a day under a year ago by 30-24, Leeds
victorious in the last meeting between the two sides by 34-6 in July.
Leeds had new re-signing Kallum Watkins in their seventeen,
the Giants scraping the barrel for a functioning seventeen as their injury list
was longer than their fit player roster.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Fri 18th Apr 2025 7:26 PM | Views : 4559 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 The oldest derby in the game was sold-out as Wigan Warriors
faced St Helens as the teams in third and fourth spot, tied together on ten
league points, went into battle for the chance to go into second spot ahead of
Hull FC who lost out in the earlier Hull derby.
Wigan had been installed as favourites with the bookies, and
they were handicapped by ten points on the coupon but with the rain falling steadily
in front of a massive crowd, there was little to choose between the two sides
with the conditions as a leveller.
Wigan have been victorious in the last two games between the
sides, the last St Helens win was over a year ago in round six of 2024.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Fri 18th Apr 2025 5:00 PM | Views : 5430 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 The hottest ticket of the Good Friday Rivals Round was
undoubtedly for the Hull derby as the top two sides in Super League met in a
round eight encounter with the top position in the table up for grabs between the
fiercest of opponents.
The full house notices had been printed a week ago as the
MKM became a sea of black, red and white and a cacophony of sound welcomed the
gladiators to the arena.
The visitors were the favourites with the bookies and were
handicapped by ten points on the coupon as they looked to repeat their victory
of a fortnight ago when they eliminated the Black & Whites at the quarter
final stages of the Challenge Cup.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Fri 18th Apr 2025 2:38 PM | Views : 4797 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 The opening fixture of the Rivals round of Super League XXX
on Easter Thursday evening saw Wakefield Trinity play host to the struggling
Castleford Tigers as eighth faced tenth, the home side with one eye of
finishing the evening in sixth spot.
Pre-kick off Wakefield were strong favourites with the
bookies with a twelve-point handicap on the coupon most pundits believing that
it would take a minor Easter miracle for the Tigers to make the short nine-mile
journey home clutching the two points.
A win of any description would lift the Tigers two points clear
of Salford in eleventh, but a win of any description would see Castleford into
seventh, and a win by fifty-two points or more would se them up to sixth ahead of
the Leeds Rhinos.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Thu 17th Apr 2025 9:55 PM | Views : 5455 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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At some point the fortunes of the Huddersfield Giants were
destined to change after they had started the season with six straight losses in Super League 2025 and those rolling up to the John Smith's Stadium this
afternoon were hoping that the reversal of fortunes would come against the
Catalans Dragon in round seven.
The visitors were firm favourites with the bookies despite
being without the services of Sam Tomkins who is being rested after playing
through the pain barrier in last weekend’s win over the Salford Red Devils.
The last win for the Giants over the Dragons was exactly a
year ago when they triumphed by 34-6 in the quarter finals of the Challenge
Cup, the Dragons winning both league encounters in 2024.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sun 13th Apr 2025 5:00 PM | Views : 6808 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 After neing knocked out of the Challenge Cup by archrivals
Hull KR, and then dropping to fourth in the table as a result of last nights
fixtures, Hull FC were looking for a crucial two points as they went on the
road to Cheshire to face the Warrington Wolves.
The home side were favourites for the win and had been
handicapped by fourteen points on the coupon, despite being two league places
below the visitors on the league table.
A win for Warrington would see them jump ahead of FC into
fourth, a win for the Black and Whites would put them back into second and crucially
see them trailing the red and white half of the city by a single league point.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sat 12th Apr 2025 7:24 PM | Views : 6976 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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A Grand Final rematch between the only unbeaten side in 2025,
against the defending Champions pitted Hull Kingston Rovers against the Wigan
Warriors at Craven Park in a much anticipated encounter, on paper the highlight
of round seven.
The home side were without injured talisman Mikey Lewis but
had a more than able stand-in with Jez Litten named in the starting thirteen at
stand off against a very strong looking Wigan Warriors side who had been
installed as slight favourites with the bookies.
The last time that the two sides met was at Old Trafford
last October when Wigan emerged as 9-2 victors, the last time that KR got a win
was four meetings ago back in April 2024 when the Robins won by 26-10.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Fri 11th Apr 2025 10:03 PM | Views : 6889 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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After meeting in round two, the Salford Red Devils and Leeds
Rhinos were thrown together again for a Thursday night round seven encounter as
the home side lurched from one disaster to the next, the bookies suggesting
that there was simply no way that the Red Devils could get a win.
Salford named just seven of the players who took to the
field on the 22nd of February in the 6-32 loss to the Rhinos as the
ongoing ‘fire sale’ of players does untold damage to the club currently second
bottom with just the single win over fellow strugglers Huddersfield Giants to
show for their toils in 2025.
The home side had been given a twenty-point start on the coupon,
but many pundits feared that the recently resurgent Rhinos would run in a ‘cricket
score’ with any win lifting the Rhinos into fifth place.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Thu 10th Apr 2025 9:56 PM | Views : 7194 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 A place in the semi-final draw alongside Catalans Dragons,
Leigh Leopards and Hull KR awaited the victors of the last quarter final match-up
between the Warrington Wolves and St Helens in a game at the Halliwell-Jones Stadium
where the bookies and the neutrals were struggling to pick a favourite.
Warrington, currently trailing Saints on points difference
in the league table, were light favourites with the bookies and were
handicapped by two points on the coupon against a Saints side in fourth place
in the league table.
Saints have lost the last five games straight against
Warrington, including the game just a fortnight ago when the sides were separated
by just two points, and Warrington knocked Saints out of the cup at this same
stage last season.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sun 6th Apr 2025 4:28 PM | Views : 8675 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 The draw for the semi-finals of
the 2025 Challenge Cup was made at half time during the last quarter final
encounter between the Warrington Wolves and St Helens at the Halliwell-Jones
Stadium.
Catalans Dragons, Leigh Leopards,
and Hull KR went into the draw thanks to their wins earlier in the weekend and
were joined by a ball representing the winners of the final clash of the round.
The draw was made by John Wilkin and England footballing icon Stuart Pearce.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sun 6th Apr 2025 3:35 PM | Views : 10535 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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Ever since the balls emerged from the ‘bag’ during the fifth-round
draw for the 2025 Challenge Cup, all the excitement has been about the clash
between the top two sides in the league table as Hull Kingston Rovers made the
short trip across the city to face the Black & Whites of Hull FC.
It was the first Challenge Cup meeting between the two sides
since a first-round encounter in 1986 when KR were the victors, the same
outcome as the three previous meetings in Super League, the last win for the
Airlie Birds in July 2023.
The table toppers were favourites with the bookies, Hull FC
given an eight-point start on the handicap coupon, and to win, the home side
would need to enforce the first Hull KR loss of the 2025 season.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sat 5th Apr 2025 4:25 PM | Views : 6576 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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A week after the two met in a one-sides Super League XXX
encounter at the Leigh Sports Village, Wakefield Trinity and the Leigh Leopard
were again sent out head-to-head, but this time in the quarter finals of the
Betfred Challenge Cup.
The bookies weren’t expecting another walkover and had made Daryl
Powell’s Wakefield marginal favourites by handicapping them two points on the
coupon, Adrian Lam’s side expected to put up a much stronger fight than they
did last time out.
The sceptics might say that Leigh were happy to sacrifice
the league encounter for cup progress, but the home side were desperate to cement
their return to the topflight with a cup semi-final place and the change of
making it to Wembley.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Fri 4th Apr 2025 9:51 PM | Views : 6685 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 Ticket sales on
the opening day of the priority window for the return of the Rugby League Ashes
this autumn have smashed all previous records for the sport, with more than
60,000 tickets for the series already snapped up.
That included
the majority of AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium, the venue for the Third Test of
the ABK Beer Rugby League Ashes, selling out in less time than the match
will last.
All tickets for
three-quarters of the stadium – the North Stand, the South Stand and the East
Stand – were bought within 80 minutes of going on sale at midday to the 50,000
Rugby League and sports fans who had pre-registered for the priority purchasing
window.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Thu 3rd Apr 2025 3:04 AM | Views : 22353 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 Whilst the transition to the new system has gone relatively smoothly for most people, some users are experiencing issues with some aspects of RLFANS.COM so we have put together a very short FAQ to assist with the most common issues.
You can find this under the menu dropdown, the three horizontal lines next to the logo in the top left, but we have included it here in full.
Just to emphasise, if you are having any issues then please email us and we will endeavour to help, and thanks for bearing with us while we make this transition to the new framework which will be better for everyone in the long term.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Wed 2nd Apr 2025 10:26 PM | Views : 953 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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What you don’t want at the end of a week of turmoil, such as
the one which the Salford Red Devils have been through, is to have to visit The
Brick to take on a Champion Wigan Warriors side looking to get back on the
points trail after a stinging loss to the Leeds Rhinos last weekend and their
exit from the Challenge Cup at the hands of Hull FC the week before.
With Salford’s team selection issues, the loss of players to
other clubs, and the financial issues behind the scenes, Wigan were facing a fifty-six-point
handicap on the coupon, but it might have been fairer to handicap them by
making them play with one hand tied behind their backs.
A win would send Wigan fourth, a big win of more than
forty-two points would lift them into third above St Helens.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sun 30th Mar 2025 5:08 PM | Views : 6943 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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 Ninth placed Catalans Dragons entered round six of Super
League XXX looking or their third win of the season as they faced a St Helens
side who arrived in the south of France in the knowledge that a win would lift
them into third spot in the table ahead of the Warrington Wolves side who took
two points off them last week.
The bookmakers were struggling to pick a winner but handicapped
St Helens by two points on the handicap coupon for what promised, on paper at
least, to be a battle royal between two sides looking to escape mid-table
mediocrity.
The home side had Tommy Makinson and Theo Fages back in
their line up while Saints started with Joe Batchelor and Moses Mbye in their
thirteen, the latter swapping places with Daryl Clark from last weeks starting
line-up.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Sat 29th Mar 2025 7:37 PM | Views : 7621 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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Game 5,000 of the Super League era had been designated as
the clash between seventh placed Warrington Wolves, and the side just ahead of
them in the league table on points difference, the Leeds Rhinos as the
Halliwell-Jones Stadium played host.
The home side were slight favourites with the bookies with
the Rhinos getting a six-point start on the handicap coupon, but both sides had
three wins in their last five and both secured great wins last time out against
St Helens and the Wigan Warriors.
Warrington had been victors in the last three encounters,
all played last season, the last time that the Rhinos were victorious was in
August 2023, and the last time they won a the Halliwell-Jones was two months
earlier in July 2023.
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Posted by RLFANS News Hound on Fri 28th Mar 2025 9:53 PM | Views : 8882 | Replies : 0 | READ MORE |
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