Super League XXV

Super League XXV, known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the 25th season of Super League and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. St Helens are the reigning champions going into Super League XXV. At the start of the season, it consisted of twelve professional rugby league teams: ten from England, one from Canada, and one from France. Due to financial pressures related to the season suspension, Canadian side Toronto Wolfpack, withdrew from the league in July 2020, and the league continued with just 11 teams.

Super League XXV
LeagueSuper League
Duration29 rounds (original)
22 rounds (revised)
Teams12 reduced to 11
Highest attendance19,599
Hull FC Vs Hull KR
(7 February 2020)[lower-alpha 1]
Lowest attendance3,350
Salford Red Devils Vs Huddersfield Giants (14 February 2020)[lower-alpha 1]
Average attendance9,495[lower-alpha 1]
Attendance284,839; as of 15 March 2020 (Round 7)[lower-alpha 1]
Broadcast partners Sky Sports
BBC Sport
SLTV
Fox League
Fox Soccer Plus
Sport Klub
2020 season
Biggest home win Leeds Rhinos 52–10 Hull KR (14 February 2020)
Biggest away win Wakefield Trinity 0–58 Catalans Dragons (15 August 2020)

The league was suspended on 16 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but a resumption to a revised format starts again on 2 August. Among the changes are the cancellation of the annual Magic Weekend which was scheduled to be played at St James' Park, Newcastle over the weekend of 23–24 May, initially postponed on 21 April before being cancelled completely.[1] The Grand Final is now scheduled to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester towards the end of November.[2]

Effects of the 2019-20 Coronavirus pandemic

Fixture postponement

On 16 March 2020, the RFL announced that all rugby league games had been suspended initially, until at least April, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[3] However, on 24 March, Super League clubs held a Board meeting via conference call, attended in part by senior officials of the Rugby Football League, for further discussion of how to respond to the current public health crisis. It was agreed that until further notice, all rugby league fixtures will be suspended indefinitely.[4]

On 21 April, the RFL announced that the Magic Weekend fixtures scheduled to take place at St James' Park had been postponed due to the current lockdown situation.[5]

Season resumption

On 26 June 2020, it was announced that the competition will resume on Sunday 2 August 2020, with two games outstanding from rounds 2–7 to be played at a single venue.[6]

The results of matches played before the suspension will count towards the league table and 15 rounds are planned post-resumption. At the end of the season the top four teams will compete in two semi-finals with the winners meeting in the Super League Grand Final. This has a provisional date at the end of November 2020.[7]

The revised fixture list was published on 16 July, with the opening fixtures played on 2 August and then the all six round 8 games to be played at Headingley, Leeds on 8 and 9 August.[8] On the same day, Toronto announced that all the club's games for the remainder of the season would be played in England.[9]

Super League and Sky Sports Agree on 2020 rights fees

On 22 June, it was announced that The RFL and Sky Sports had reached agreement over clubs' 2020 TV revenues, which recognises the huge disruption to this season’s fixture calendar, and the significant impact it has had on broadcasting schedules. The agreement is subject to the sport resuming when government and public health advice allows.[10]

Toronto Wolfpack withdrawal

On 1 April 2020, Toronto Wolfpack issued a statement regarding their first three fixtures scheduled to be played at Lamport Stadium in Canada. Due to the suspension of rugby league, and the coronavirus pandemic events, the decision to confirm these postponements had been taken, following regular consultation with the Wolfpack, and given the specific issues around international travel to and from Canada.[11]

on 20 July, the Canadian club announced that they would be taking no further part in the restarted season, citing the "financial challenges" the club would be facing, including loss of gate money, medical testing and the hire of grounds in England, but that the club hoped that they would be competing in Super League in 2021.[12] The RFL and Super League issued a statement in response to the announcement, which said that both bodies were "very disappointed" by Toronto's decision, and that discussions about Toronto's future involvement in Super League would have to be held.[13]

It was later announced that Toronto's results were to be expunged, although individual player's records would not be affected, however any Man of Steel points earned in the matches against Toronto would be erased.[14]

On 3 August 2020, The RFL issued a further statement regarding Toronto, stating that they had terminated their contract for the remainder of 2020 season.[15]

Teams
Locations of Super League XXV teams
Locations of Super League XXV teams

The season features eleven of the twelve teams that participated in Super League XXIV. London Broncos were relegated after finishing bottom of Super League XXIV.[16] They are replaced by the 2019 RFL Championship winners Toronto Wolfpack, who are playing in Super League for the first time since being founded in 2017.[17] Due to their home ground Lamport Stadium being unavailable during the Canadian winter, Toronto were to play their first ten games in England, after initial plans fell through to play three home games in European cities such as Dublin, Republic of Ireland or Barcelona, Spain.[18]

The traditional two matches played on Good Friday and Easter Monday would be reduced to only one over the Easter weekend due to concerns over player welfare.[18] For the first time, all of the final fixtures of the season will kick off at the same time on the same day to ensure that no team has any advantage in terms of fighting against relegation or pushing for a play-off place.[19]

A change to the rules sees clubs able to name a squad of 21 players two days prior to matchdays rather than 19 in previous seasons. However, should a club add a player to the announced squad, they will lose one of their eight interchanges for the match in question (players on dual registration deals with lower league clubs are exempt).[20]

Legend
  Reigning Champions
  Previous season League Leaders
  Promoted
Team 2019 position Stadium Capacity City/Area
Castleford Tigers
(2020 season)		 5th The Mend-A-Hose Jungle 12,000 [21] Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons
(2020 season)		 7th Stade Gilbert Brutus 13,000 [22] Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants
(2020 season)		 10th John Smith's Stadium 24,121[23] Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull
(2020 season)		 6th KCOM Stadium 25,400[24] Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Kingston Rovers
(2020 season)		 11th Lightstream Stadium 12,225[25] Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leeds Rhinos
(2020 season)		 8th Headingley 21,062 [26] Leeds, West Yorkshire
Salford Red Devils
(2020 season)		 3rd (Runners up) AJ Bell Stadium 12,000[27] Salford, Greater Manchester
    St. Helens
(2020 season)		 1st (League leaders & champions) Totally Wicked Stadium 18,000[28] St. Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity
(2020 season)		 9th Beaumont Legal Stadium 9,333[29] Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves
(2020 season)		 4th Halliwell Jones Stadium 15,200[30] Warrington, Cheshire
Wigan Warriors
(2020 season)		 2nd DW Stadium 25,133[31] Wigan, Greater Manchester

Results
Main article: Super League XXV results

Rule changes

Both golden point extra time and the shot clock, introduced in 2019, were retained for 2020 although the shot clock timings were reduced by 5 seconds each with only 30 seconds available for the forming of scrums and 25 seconds for the taking of a goal line drop out.[32]

As part of the work to restart the season, two major rule changes were made in July 2020 to apply for the rest of the season. Scrums have been removed from the game and will be replaced by a play-the-ball and an Australian innovation "six again" has been adopted which replaces penalties for defensive infringements at rucks with a new set of six for the attacking team.[33]

Extra time

Game 1 (Wakefield v Hull FC)

The first game to go to golden-point, was the round 6 game between Wakefield and Hull F.C. on 6 March 2020. Hull won the match 27–26, thanks to a Marc Sneyd drop goal, after the scores were tied at 26-all after 80 minutes.

Game 2 (Huddersfield Giants v Leeds Rhinos)

The second game to go to golden-point, was the rearranged round 2 game between Huddersfield Giants and Leeds Rhinos on 2 August 2020. Leeds won the match 27–26, thanks to a Luke Gale drop goal, after the scores were tied at 26-all after 80 minutes.

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Wigan Warriors 8 6 0 2 189 114 +75 12 League Leaders' Shield/ Play-off Semi Final
2 St. Helens 8 5 0 3 196 91 +105 10 Play-off Semi Final
3 Catalans Dragons 7 5 0 2 216 141 +75 10
4 Warrington Wolves 8 5 0 3 143 110 +33 10
5 Huddersfield Giants 7 4 0 3 132 124 +8 8
6 Leeds Rhinos 7 4 0 3 151 150 +1 8
7 Castleford Tigers 8 4 0 4 144 144 0 8
8 Hull FC 8 3 0 5 163 230 −67 6
9 Salford Red Devils 7 2 0 5 124 166 −42 4
10 Wakefield Trinity 7 2 0 5 115 190 −75 4
11 Hull KR 7 1 0 6 94 209 −115 2
Updated to match(es) played on 16 August 2020. Source:

Player statistics
  • Updated to match(es) played on 16 August 2020

Discipline

Steve Prescott Man of Steel

The format for choosing the winner of the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award, remains the same for this season. As per the previous season it was voted on by Super League players. A 21 man panel of former players will choose the three best players from each weekly round game. 1st place is awarded 3 points, 2nd 2 points, and 3rd 1 point.


Leaderboard/Top 10 Contenders
Rank Player Club Total
1 Paul McShane Castleford Tigers 13
2 Aidan Sezer Huddersfield Giants 11
3= Sam Tomkins Catalans Dragons 9
Alex Walmsley St Helens
Liam Farrell Wigan Warriors
Bevan French Wigan Warriors
7= Niall Evalds Salford Red Devils 6
Jonny Lomax St Helens
Blake Austin Warrington Wolves
10= Michael Mcilorum Catalans Dragons 5
Harry Newman Leeds Rhinos
Lachlan Coote St Helens
Jackson Hastings Wigan Warriors
Liam Marshall Wigan Warriors


As of Round 9 - (16 August 2020)

Attendances


Notes
  1. Until further notice, all games will resume behind closed doors at neutral venues. (Not including games played up until 15 march)

References
  1. "Magic Weekend 2020 Cancelled". superleague.co.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  2. "Super League to return in August with Grand Final towards the end of November". ITV News. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  3. "Super League fixtures Suspended until April". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  4. "Season Suspension Update". superleague.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  5. "Magic Weekend postponed". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  6. "Super League to return on August 2". www.expressandstar.com. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  7. "restart date announced". superleague.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. "Super League release fixture schedule for rest of 2020 season". Love Rugby League. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  9. Darbyshire, Drew (16 July 2020). "Toronto Wolfpack to play rest of 2020 season in UK". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  10. "Super League and Sky Sports Agree on 2020 Rights Fees". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  11. "Wolfpack Fixture Update". superleague.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  12. "Toronto withdraw from 2020 Super League". BBC Sport. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  13. "Statement | Toronto Wolfpack". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  14. "Toronto Wolfpack's results expunged". Yorkshire Post. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  15. "Update | Toronto Wolfpack". www.superleague.co.uk. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  16. Heppenstall, Ross (13 September 2019). "London Broncos relegated from Super League after Wakefield defeat". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  17. Bower, Aaron (4 November 2019). "Toronto to kick off with Headingley 'home game' against Castleford". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  18. "Super League 2020 fixtures: St Helens start v Salford, Toronto open v Castleford". BBC Sport. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  19. "The big changes coming to the Super League fixture schedule in 2020". Hull Daily Mail. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  20. "Clubs will lose interchange if pre-named squads are changed from 2020". BBC Sport. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  21. "The Jungle (Wheldon Road)". castlefordtigers.com.
  22. "Stade Gilbert Brutus". catalan dragons.com.
  23. "Kirklees Stadium". johnsmithsstadium.com.
  24. "KCOM Stadium". kcomstadium.com/.
  25. "Craven Park, Hull". hullkr.co.uk.
  26. "Headingley Rugby Stadium". therhinos.co.uk.
  27. "AJ Bell Stadium". ajbellstadium.co.uk/.
  28. "Totally Wicked Stadium". saintsrlfc.com.
  29. "Belle Vue (Wakefield)". wakefieldtrinity.com.
  30. "Halliwell Jones Stadium". halliwelljonesstadium.co.uk/.
  31. "DW Stadium". dwstadium.com.
  32. BBC Sport (25 November 2019). "Super League: Five second shot clock reduction to make games faster for regular season from 2020". BBC Sport.
  33. Brooks, Jenna (6 July 2020). "RFL confirms rule changes for rugby league's restart". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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