On Saturday 12 August, Leigh Leopards beat Hull Kingston Rovers in a thrilling Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium, securing the club’s first such victory in the competition since 1971 via a tense golden point extra-time win. The match would be a fitting end to any rugby league season, but of course that isn’t the end of the excitement for fans of the English game: the Super League season is still underway, with scores to be settled, play-off ties to be navigated, and a grand final still to come. With tickets still widely available for the competition’s remaining matches, here’s who’s playing who, and what’s still at stake in Super League XXVIII.
On Friday 18 August, attention will turn to round 22 of Super League rugby, with the league table poised perfectly ahead of a dramatic final 5 rounds of the campaign. Leading the way currently is the league’s sole French representatives, Catalans Dragons. The Perpignan outfit will face Challenge Cup champions Leigh Leopards, Wigan Warriors, Hull KR, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds Rhinos, and Salford Red Devils in their remaining fixtures, with the ties against fellow top-6 sides Leigh, Wigan, and KR arguably the pick of the bunch.
Indeed, just behind Catalans Dragons, in second, third, and fourth respectively, are Wigan, St. Helens, and Leigh, all of whom are tied on 28 league points at present. Wigan will travel to Leigh on 22 September, during the final round of the season, whilst St. Helens will face mid-table Hull FC on the same date. Other notable clashes involving the current top-4 include Leeds Rhinos versus Wigan on 8 September and Warrington Wolves versus St. Helens on 15 September.
Completing the top-6 are Warrington Wolves and Hull KR, with both teams on 22 league points as it stands. Only 2 points behind them are both Salford Red Devils in seventh, and Hull FC in eighth. Leeds Rhinos sit in ninth on 18 points, the same total as Huddersfield Giants, in tenth. Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity, meanwhile, are languishing in eleventh and twelfth respectively – both on just 8 points. Whilst a top-6 berth might be too much of an ask for the 2 sides with just 5 rounds of the regular season remaining, they still have plenty of pride to play for, and will meet on 18 August in what could prove to be a vital basement battle in the struggle to avoid a last-placed finish.
Following round 27 of the regular season, the top-6 will advance to the play-offs, where 3 rounds of knock-out rugby will whittle 6 down to just 2, with those sides set to meet in the Super League Grand Final, which will take place at Old Trafford on 14 October. Will Catalans Dragons go one better than their 2021 campaign and become the first non-English side to lift the Super League trophy? Will St. Helens make it 5 in-a-row? Can Leigh achieve an improbable double? Or will one of Super League rugby’s other capable outfits step-up and claim the title?