Super League XVII

The 2012 Super League season (known as the Stobart Super League XVII) was the 17th season of rugby league football since the Super League format was introduced in 1996.[3] Fourteen teams competed for the League Leaders' Shield over 27 rounds (including the Magic Weekend at Manchester's Etihad Stadium), which was won by the Wigan Warriors. After the regular season, the 8 highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the championship and the Super League Trophy.

Super League XVII
LeagueSuper League
Duration27 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Teams14
Highest attendance32,953
Magic Weekend day 2 (27 May 2012) [1]
Lowest attendance1,517
London Broncos v Salford City Reds (4 August 2012)[1]
Average attendance10,151[1]
AttendanceN/A
Broadcast partners Sky Sports
BBC Sport
SLTV
Eurosport
beIN Sports
Fox Soccer Plus
Sport Klub
2012 season
Champions Leeds Rhinos
6th Super League title
9th English title
League Leaders Wigan Warriors
Runners-up Warrington Wolves
Man of Steel Sam Tomkins
Top point-scorer(s) Scott Dureau (281)[1]
Top try-scorer(s) Josh Charnley (31)[2]

The season kicked off on 3 February with two Round 1 fixtures being played: the Widnes Vikings, in their first Super League match since 2005, lost to the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, while defending champions the Leeds Rhinos defeated the Hull Kingston Rovers and ended on 6 October with Leeds Rhinos beating Warrington Wolves 26-18 in the 2012 Super League Grand Final.[4]

Teams

Super League XVII was the first year of the second round of Super League licences. Under this system, promotion and relegation between Super League and Championship was abolished, and 14 teams were granted licences subject to certain criteria. All existing Super League teams except Crusaders (who pulled out of the application process) earned a place in the 2012 season, Championship team Widnes Vikings were given a licence after their application was deemed better than Halifax and Barrow Raiders.

Geographically, the vast majority of teams in Super League are based in the north of England, five teams – Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan and Widnes – to the west of the Pennines in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and seven teams to the east in Yorkshire – Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. Catalans Dragons are the only team based in France and are outside of the UK and London Broncos are the only team to be based in a capital city (London).

The maps below indicate the locations of teams that competed in Super League XVII.

Team Stadium Capacity City/Area
Bradford Bulls (2012 season) Odsal Stadium 27,000 Bradford, West Yorkshire
Castleford Tigers (2012 season) PROBIZ Coliseum 11,750 Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2012 season) Stade Gilbert Brutus 14,000 Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants (2012 season) John Smith's Stadium 24,544 Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull F.C. (2012 season) Kingston Communications Stadium 25,404 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Kingston Rovers (2012 season) MS3 Craven Park 9,471 Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leeds Rhinos (2012 season) Headingley Carnegie Stadium 22,250 Leeds, West Yorkshire
London Broncos (2012 season) Twickenham Stoop 12,700 Twickenham, London
Salford City Reds (2012 season) Salford City Stadium 12,000 Salford, Greater Manchester
St Helens R.F.C. (2012 season) Langtree Park 18,000 St. Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (2012 season) Rapid Solicitors Stadium 12,600 Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2012 season) Halliwell Jones Stadium 15,500 Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes Vikings (2012 season) Stobart Stadium 11,500 Widnes, Cheshire, England
Wigan Warriors (2012 season) DW Stadium 25,138 Wigan, Greater Manchester
Legend
  Reigning Super League champions
  Defending Challenge Cup Champions

Rules

Rule changes
  • Teams will now only be able to make 10 interchanges in a match which has been reduced from 12.
  • If a player in possession of the ball hits the corner flag he will no longer be deemed 'In Touch'.
  • After a try, teams now have the option of taking the conversion as a drop-kick instead of from a tee.

Operational rules
  • All Super League clubs agreed to operate within the £1.7million salary cap for their top 25 first-tier players.
  • Quota spots were reduced to 5, meaning only 5 players could be from abroad. However, players from France, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea all count as federation-trained and thus do not count against the quota.

Table
Main article: 2012 Super League season results
As of 9 September 2012
Super League XVII
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Wigan Warriors 27 21 0 6 994 449 +545 42
2 Warrington Wolves 27 20 1 6 909 539 +370 41
3 St Helens R.F.C. 27 17 2 8 795 480 +315 36
4 Catalans Dragons 27 18 0 9 812 611 +201 36
5 Leeds Rhinos 27 16 0 11 823 662 +161 32
6 Hull F.C. 27 15 2 10 696 621 +75 32
7 Huddersfield Giants 27 14 0 13 699 664 +35 28
8 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 27 13 0 14 633 764 −131 26
9 Bradford Bulls 27 14 1 12 633 756 −123 23[lower-alpha 1]
10 Hull Kingston Rovers 27 10 1 16 753 729 +24 21
11 Salford City Reds 27 8 1 18 618 844 −226 17
12 London Broncos 27 7 0 20 588 890 −302 14
13 Castleford Tigers 27 6 0 21 554 948 −394 12
14 Widnes Vikings 27 6 0 21 532 1082 −550 12
Source: superleague.co.uk and BBC Sport.
Rules for classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.
Notes:
  1. Bradford Bulls deducted 6 points on 25 July 2012 for entering administration[5]

Play-offs
See also: 2012 Super League season results - Play-offs

The play-offs commenced following the conclusion of the 27-round regular season. To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, Super League uses its unique play-off system. The finals concluded with the 2012 Super League Grand Final.[6]

# Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time (Local) Venue Referee Attendance
QUALIFYING AND ELIMINATION FINALS
Q1 Wigan Warriors 46–6 Catalans Dragons 14 September 2012, 20:00 BST DW Stadium Richard Silverwood 7,232
Q2 Warrington Wolves 6–28 St. Helens 15 September 2012, 18:00 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium Ben Thaler 10,190
E1 Leeds Rhinos 42–20 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 15 September 2012, 20:00 BST Headingley Carnegie Stadium Steve Ganson 9,044
E2 Hull F.C. 46–10 Huddersfield Giants 16 September 2012, 18:00 BST KC Stadium Jamie Child 8,662
PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS
P1 Catalans Dragons 20–27 Leeds Rhinos 21 September 2012, 20:45 CEST Stade Gilbert Brutus Ben Thaler 11,523
P2 Warrington Wolves 24–12 Hull F.C. 22 September 2012, 18:45 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium Richard Silverwood 7,323
SEMI-FINALS
SF1 Wigan Warriors 12–13 Leeds Rhinos 28 September 2012, 20:00 BST DW Stadium Richard Silverwood 8,235
SF2 St. Helens 18–36 Warrington Wolves 29 September 2012, 18:15 BST Langtree Park Ben Thaler 12,715
GRAND FINAL
F Leeds Rhinos 26–18 Warrington Wolves 6 October 2012, 18:00 BST Old Trafford, Manchester Richard Silverwood 70,676
2012 Super League play-offs bracket
  Qualifying / Elimination play-offs Preliminary semi-finals Qualifying semi-finals Grand Final
                                         
  QPO1:    
1   Wigan Warriors 46  
4   Catalans Dragons 6     PSF1:    
              Catalans Dragons 20    
EPO1:           Leeds Rhinos 27       QSF1: Wigan selected Leeds[7]
5   Leeds Rhinos 42             Wigan Warriors 12  
8   Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 20             Leeds Rhinos 13     GF: 6 October, Old Trafford
          Leeds Rhinos 26
  EPO2:       QSF2:         Warrington Wolves 18
6   Hull F.C. 46           St Helens 18  
7   Huddersfield Giants 10     PSF2:           Warrington Wolves 36  
        Warrington Wolves 24    
QPO2:           Hull F.C. 12    
2   Warrington Wolves 6    
3   St Helens 28    
   
Key:          Losing team progressing      Winning team progressing      Winning team's progression chosen

Week 1. Qualifying/Elimination play-offs: Fixtures decided by regular reason finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage.
Week 2. Preliminary semi-finals: Fixtures decided by regular season finishing positions. Higher ranked teams play lower ranked teams. Higher ranked teams receive home ground advantage.
Week 3. Qualifying semi-finals: Winners of Qualifying play-offs play winners of Qualifying semi-finals. Fixtures decided by Club Call. Winners of Qualifying play-offs receive home ground advantage.

Season statistics

Discipline
Rank Player Club [1][8] [1][8]
1 Michael McIlorum Wigan Warriors 0 2
2 Luke O'Donnell Huddersfield Giants 1 1
3= Bryn Hargreaves Bradford Bulls 0 1
Gareth Hock Wigan Warriors
Shaun Magennis St Helens RLFC
Sam Moa Hull FC
Tony Puletua St Helens RLFC
Chris Tuson Wigan Warriors
9= Jason Baitieri Catalans Dragons 2 0
Ben Cross Widnes Vikings
Michael Dobson Hull Kingston Rovers
Olivier Elima Bradford Bulls
12= Vinnie Anderson Salford City Reds 1 0
Jason Chan Huddersfield Giants
Jon Clarke Widnes Vikings
Tony Clubb London Broncos
Leroy Cudjoe Huddersfield Giants
Gil Dudson Wigan Warriors
Jacob Emmitt Castleford Tigers
Brett Ferres Castleford Tigers
Paddy Flynn Widnes Vikings
Jamie Foster St Helens RLFC
Luke Gale Bradford Bulls
Gareth Haggerty Widnes Vikings
Ian Henderson Catalans Dragons
Chris Hill Warrington Wolves
Daniel Holdsworth Salford City Reds
Ben Jeffries Bradford Bulls
Heath L'Estrange Bradford Bulls
Willie Manu Hull FC
Stephen Nash Castleford Tigers
Mark O'Meley Hull FC
Richard Owen Castleford Tigers
Luke Patten Salford City Reds
Steve Pickersgill Widnes Vikings
Karl Pryce Bradford Bulls
Michael Robertson London Broncos
Michael Shenton St Helens RLFC
Kevin Sinfield Leeds Rhinos
Scott Taylor Hull Kingston Rovers
Anthony Watts Widnes Vikings
Paul Wood Warrington Wolves

Awards

Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final:[9]

Media

Television

2012 is the first year of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 70 matches per season.[11] The deal which runs until 2016 is worth £90million.

Sky Sports coverage in the UK see two live matches broadcast each week – one on Friday night, which kicks-off at 8:00 pm and another usually on Saturday evenings at 5:45 pm,[12] although for 2012, some matches between May and August will be scheduled for Monday nights[13] at 8:00 pm, filling the gap vacated by the summer break of Premier League football. Regular commentators were Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Shaun McRae, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights this season in a new show on Sunday Nights called Super League - Full Time, usually airing at 10pm.

BBC Sport broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show, presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme. The first is only to the BBC North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35pm on BBC One,[14] while a repeat showing is shown on BBC Two in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Super League Show is also available for one week after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only.[15] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package.

Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Maori Television (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), NTV+ (Russia), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Eurosport (Australia) or SportsNet World (Canada).

Radio

BBC Coverage:

  • BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) normally carry one Super League commentary a week on Friday Nights.
  • BBC Manchester will carry commentary of Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Merseyside.
  • BBC Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull KR and Hull matches.
  • BBC Leeds carry commentaries featuring Bradford, Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
  • BBC Merseyside (AM/DAB only) will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Manchester.
  • BBC London 94.9 airs all London Broncos games home & away, mainly via online streaming only.

Commercial Radio Coverage:

  • 102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
  • 107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington & Widnes Matches.
  • BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) have full match commentary of Bradford Bulls home and away.
  • Yorkshire Radio increases its coverage to air 50 games in the 2012 season.
  • Radio Warrington (Online Station) all Warrington home games and some away games.
  • 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 has worldwide broadband rights.

Starting from Thursday 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports will also be available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand. List of Super League games available on Livestation.com

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References
  1. "Vital Statistics". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  2. "Stats - Player Stats". Super League. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  3. "engage extends Super League deal". engagesl.com (Engage Mutual Assurance). Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  4. "Grand Final: Warrington 18-26 Leeds". BBC Sport. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  5. "Bradford Bulls handed six-point deduction by RFL". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  6. "Play-offs". Super League. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  7. "Wigan Warriors face Leeds Rhinos in semi-finals". BBC Sport. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  8. "Stats Centre". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  9. "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  10. "Tomkins crowned 2012 Super League Man of Steel". Super League. Super League. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  11. Sky Sports (4 August 2011). "Super League deal" (PDF). Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  12. Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  13. Super League Fans (6 February 2012). "Monday Night Super League fixtures announced". Super League Fans. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  14. BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  15. BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
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