2018 Super League season

Super League XXIII
League	Super League
Duration	30 Rounds
Teams	12
Highest attendance	23,246 Leeds Rhinos Vs Castleford Tigers (23 March)
Lowest attendance	2,248 Salford Red Devils Vs Widnes Vikings (15 June)
Average attendance	8,547
Attendance	1,166,425
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports BBC Sport Fox League beIN Sports Fox Soccer Plus Sport Klub
2018 season
Champions	Wigan Warriors 5th Super League Title 22nd British title
League Leaders Shield	St. Helens
Runners-up	Warrington Wolves
Biggest home win	Warrington Wolves 80–10 Hull F.C. (30 August)
Biggest away win	Salford Red Devils 10–60 St. Helens (26 April)
Man of Steel	Ben Barba
Top point-scorer(s)	Danny Richardson (296)
Top try-scorer(s)	Ben Barba (28)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Championship	London Broncos
Relegated to Championship	Widnes Vikings
← 2017 2019 →

Super League XXIII, known as the Betfred Super League XXIII for sponsor reasons, ^[1] was the 23rd season of the Super League and 124th season of rugby league in Britain for 2018.

Wigan Warriors were crowned champions after beating Warrington Wolves 12-4 to win their 22nd league Championship. ^[2]

Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend.

This season also saw the first Super League game played outside Europe, as Wigan Warriors faced Hull F.C. at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, Australia on Saturday 10 February 2018, which Wigan won, 24–10.

St. Helens won the League Leaders Shield for a record 6th time. However, they failed to reach the Grand Final after losing their semi final 13-18 to Warrington Wolves.

Widnes Vikings were relegated to the Championship, after only 3 wins in the regular season and one win in The Qualifiers, while London Broncos were promoted after winning the Million Pound Game by beating Toronto Wolfpack 4–2.

Teams

Eleven teams in Super League are from the North of England. Five teams hail from the historic county of Lancashire, west of the Pennines: Warrington, St. Helens, Salford, Wigan, and Widnes. Six teams hail from the historic county of Yorkshire, east of the Pennines: Huddersfield, Wakefield Trinity, Leeds, Castleford, Hull KR and Hull FC. Catalans Dragons, located in Perpignan, France, are the only team outside the North of England. St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, and Leeds Rhinos are the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996.

Hull KR were promoted from the Championship after finishing in 2nd place in The Qualifiers for 2017 whilst Leigh were relegated to the Championship after losing the 2017 Million Pound Game to Catalans.

West Yorkshire

Wigan

Salford

St. Helens

Warrington

Widnes

Hull

Hull KR

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Locations of Super League XXIII teams

Catalans

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Locations of Super League XXIII teams

Castleford

Huddersfield

Leeds

Wakefield

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Locations of Super League XXIII teams in West Yorkshire

Team	2017 position	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
Castleford Tigers (2018 season)	1st (League Leaders/Runners-Up)	The Mend-A-Hose Jungle	11,750	Castleford, West Yorkshire
Catalans Dragons (2018 season)	10th	Stade Gilbert Brutus	14,000	Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
Huddersfield Giants (2018 season)	8th	John Smith's Stadium	24,544	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Hull (2018 season)	3rd	KCOM Stadium	25,404	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Hull Kingston Rovers (2018 season)	Promoted	Lightstream Stadium	12,225	Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Leeds Rhinos (2018 season)	2nd (Champions)	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	22,250	Leeds, West Yorkshire
Salford Red Devils (2018 season)	7th	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Salford, Greater Manchester
St. Helens (2018 season)	4th	Totally Wicked Stadium	18,000	St. Helens, Merseyside
Wakefield Trinity (2018 season)	5th	Beaumont Legal Stadium	11,000	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Warrington Wolves (2018 season)	9th	Halliwell Jones Stadium	15,500	Warrington, Cheshire
Widnes Vikings (2018 season)	12th	The Select Security Stadium	13,500	Widnes, Cheshire
Wigan Warriors (2018 season)	6th	DW Stadium	25,138	Wigan, Greater Manchester

Regular season

Main article: Super League XXIII results

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	St. Helens	23	21	0	2	713	298	+415	42	Super League Super 8s
2	Wigan Warriors	23	16	0	7	573	345	+228	32
3	Castleford Tigers	23	15	1	7	567	480	+87	31
4	Warrington Wolves	23	14	1	8	531	410	+121	29
5	Huddersfield Giants	23	11	1	11	427	629	−202	23
6	Hull F.C.	23	11	0	12	534	544	−10	22
7	Wakefield Trinity	23	10	1	12	581	506	+75	21
8	Catalans Dragons	23	10	1	12	488	531	−43	21
9	Leeds Rhinos	23	8	2	13	441	527	−86	18	The Qualifiers
10	Hull KR	23	8	1	14	476	582	−106	17
11	Salford Red Devils	23	7	0	16	384	597	−213	14
12	Widnes Vikings	23	3	0	20	387	653	−266	6

Source: Rugby League Project

Super 8s

Super League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	St. Helens (L)	30	26	0	4	895	408	+487	52	Semi-finlas
2	Wigan Warriors (C)	30	23	0	7	740	417	+323	46
3	Castleford Tigers	30	20	1	9	767	582	+185	41
4	Warrington Wolves	30	18	1	11	767	561	+206	37
5	Wakefield Trinity	30	13	1	16	747	696	+51	27
6	Huddersfield Giants	30	13	1	16	539	794	−255	27
7	Catalans Dragons	30	12	1	17	596	750	−154	25
8	Hull F.C.	30	11	0	19	615	787	−172	22

Source: Rugby League Project
(C) Champions; (L) League Leaders' Shield Winners

The Qualifiers

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Salford Red Devils	7	5	0	2	218	75	+143	10	Super League XXIV
2	Leeds Rhinos	7	5	0	2	216	137	+79	10
3	Hull KR	7	5	0	2	197	162	+35	10
4	Toronto Wolfpack	7	5	0	2	136	118	+18	10	Million Pound Game
5	London Broncos (P)	7	4	0	3	161	164	−3	8
6	Toulouse Olympique	7	3	0	4	156	190	−34	6	2019 Championship
7	Widnes Vikings (R)	7	1	0	6	92	173	−81	2
8	Halifax	7	0	0	7	68	225	−157	0

Source:
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Playoffs

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time (Local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Semi-finals
St. Helens	13–18	Warrington Wolves	4 October 2018, 19:45	Totally Wicked Stadium	Robert Hicks	12,031
Wigan Warriors	14–0	Castleford Tigers	5 October 2018, 19:45	DW Stadium	Ben Thaler	13,461

Grand Final

Main article: 2018 Super League Grand Final

Final

13 October 2018 6:00 pm BST

Wigan Warriors	12–4	Warrington Wolves
Tries: Manfredi (2), Davies		Tries: Charnley

Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 64,892 Referee: Robert Hicks Player of the Match: Stefan Ratchford (Warrington)

Wigan Warriors

Wigan finished 2nd in regular season and seven consecutive wins in the Super 8's saw them secure 2nd place in the table. A 14–0 victory over Castleford Tigers in the semi-final earned Wigan a place in their 10th Grand Final.

This is the first time that a team has won all 7 Super 8's games in a single season, and since this playoff format will be abandoned at the end of the 2018 season, will make this a unique historic feat achieved by Wigan.

Warrington Wolves

Warrington finished 4th to earn an away trip to League Leaders Shield winners St. Helens in the semi-finals. Warrington won 18-13 with a late try by Tom Lineham. Warrington will be contesting their 4th Grand Final.

Match details

This match was Shaun Wane's last game as Wigan coach before going to Scotland Rugby Union after 7 seasons as head coach of Wigan.

Teams

Wigan Warriors	Position	Warrington Wolves
#1 Sam Tomkins	Fullback	#1 Stefan Ratchford
#21 Dominic Manfredi	Wing	#2 Tom Lineham
#4 Oliver Gildart	Centre	#3 Bryson Goodwin
#3 Dan Sarginson	Centre	#19 Toby King
#2 Tom Davies	Wing	#27 Josh Charnley
#6 George Williams	Stand-off	#6 Kevin Brown
#9 Thomas Leuluai	Scrum-half	#7 Tyrone Roberts
#25 Romain Navarette	Prop	#8 Chris Hill
#7 Sam Powell	Hooker	#9 Daryl Clark
#10 Ben Flower	Prop	#10 Mike Cooper
#40 Joe Greenwood	Second-row	#30 Bodene Thompson
#14 John Bateman	Second-row	#12 Jack Hughes
#13 Sean O'Loughlin	Loose forward	#34 Ben Westwood
#20 Morgan Escare	Interchange	#17 Joe Philbin
#19 Ryan Sutton	Interchange	#13 Ben Murdoch-Masila
#12 Liam Farrell	Interchange	#19 George King
#8 Tony Clubb	Interchange	#15 Declan Patton
Shaun Wane	Coach	Steve Price

Player statistics

Top 10 try Scorers Rank Player Club Tries 1 Ben Barba St. Helens 28 2 Tom Johnstone Wakefield Trinity 24 3 Mark Percival St. Helens 20 4= Greg Eden Castleford Tigers 18 Ben Jones-Bishop Wakefield Trinity Tom Lineham Warrington Wolves 7= Bureta Faraimo Hull F.C. 17 Jonny Lomax St. Helens 9 Liam Marshall Wigan Warriors 16 10= David Mead Catalans Dragons 15 Regan Grace St. Helens Josh Charnley Warrington Wolves Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves Top 10 try assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Jacob Miller Wakefield Trinity 28 2 Paul McShane Castleford Tigers 27 3 Ben Barba St. Helens 24 4 Richie Myler Leeds Rhinos 23 5= Josh Drinkwater Catalans Dragons 22 George Williams Wigan Warriors 7 Kevin Brown Warrington Wolves 20 8= Ryan Hampshire Wakefield Trinity 19 Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves 10 Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 18 Top 10 goal scorers Rank Player Club Goals Drop Goals 1 Danny Richardson St. Helens 135 6 2 Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 96 6 3 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 62 2 4 Ryan Hampshire Wakefield Trinity 61 1 5 Ryan Shaw Hull KR 56 0 6 Jamie Ellis Castleford Tigers 54 1 7 Josh Drinkwater Catalans Dragons 53 0 8 Marc Sneyd Hull F.C. 51 5 9 Luke Gale Castleford Tigers 48 4 10 Jake Connor Hull F.C. 40 2 Top 10 points scorers Rank Player Club Points 1 Danny Richardson St. Helens 296 2 Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 241 3 Ryan Shaw Hull KR 156 4 Ryan Hampshire Wakefield Trinity 143 5 Josh Drinkwater Catalans Dragons 134 6 Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants 130 7 Jamie Ellis Castleford Tigers 117 8 Stefan Ratchford Warrington Wolves 114 9 Ben Barba St. Helens 112 10 Marc Sneyd Hull F.C. 111 • Updated to match(es) played on 28 September 2018 (Super 8s – Round 7)

Discipline

Red Cards Rank Player Club Red Cards 1= Liam Watts * Castleford Tigers / Hull F.C. 1 Kenny Edwards Catalans Dragons Mickael Simon Catalans Dragons Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants Bureta Faraimo Hull F.C. Lee Mossop Salford Red Devils Morgan Knowles St. Helens Matty Lees St. Helens Jacob Miller Wakefield Trinity Declan Patton Warrington Wolves Wellington Albert Widnes Vikings Chris Houston Widnes Vikings Liam Watts' red card was picked up whilst playing for Hull F.C.

Yellow Cards Rank Player Club Yellow Cards 1= Sam Moa Catalans Dragons 3 Mickael Simon Catalans Dragons 2= Adam Milner Castleford Tigers 2 Julian Bousquet Catalans Dragons Michael McIlorum Catalans Dragons Fouad Yaha Catalans Dragons Ryan Hinchcliffe Huddersfield Giants Kruise Leeming Huddersfield Giants Josh Johnson Hull KR Lama Tasi Salford Red Devils Weller Hauraki * Salford Red Devils / Widnes Vikings Mark Percival St. Helens Matty Ashurst Wakefield Trinity Craig Huby Wakefield Trinity Tyler Randell Wakefield Trinity Mike Cooper Warrington Wolves Tom Lineham Warrington Wolves Chris Houston Widnes Vikings Thomas Leuluai Wigan Warriors Sam Tomkins Wigan Warriors 3= Matt Cook Castleford Tigers 1 Oliver Holmes Castleford Tigers Mike McMeeken Castleford Tigers Grant Millington Castleford Tigers Joe Wardle Castleford Tigers Lambert Belmas Catalans Dragons Greg Bird Catalans Dragons Benjamin Jullien Catalans Dragons Lewis Tierney Catalans Dragons Brayden Williame Catalans Dragons Danny Brough Huddersfield Giants Michael Lawrence Huddersfield Giants Jermaine McGillvary Huddersfield Giants Jordan Turner Huddersfield Giants Jacob Wardle Huddersfield Giants Jake Connor Hull F.C. Bureta Faraimo Hull F.C. Josh Griffin Hull F.C. Maurice Blair Hull KR Chris Clarkson Hull KR Matthew Marsh Hull KR Mose Masoe Hull KR Nick Scruton Hull KR Danny Tickle Hull KR Joel Tomkins * Hull KR / Wigan Warriors Brett Ferres Leeds Rhinos Matt Parcell Leeds Rhinos Brad Singleton Leeds Rhinos George Griffin Salford Red Devils Junior Sa'u Salford Red Devils Logan Tomkins Salford Red Devils Kris Welham Salford Red Devils Ryan Lannon Salford Red Devils Kyle Amor St. Helens Luke Douglas St. Helens Matty Lees St. Helens Dominique Peyroux St. Helens Scott Grix Wakefield Trinity Max Jowitt Wakefield Trinity Reece Lyne Wakefield Trinity Sitaleki Akauola Warrington Wolves Ryan Atkins Warrington Wolves George King Warrington Wolves Hep Cahill Widnes Vikings Danny Walker Widnes Vikings Sam Powell Wigan Warriors Romain Navarette Wigan Warriors Weller Hauraki has been sin binned once for Salford, and once for Widnes Joel Tomkins' sin bin was picked up whilst playing for Wigan Warriors Updated to match(es) played on 22 September 2018 (Super 8s Round 6)

Attendances

Average attendances Club Home Games Total Average Highest Lowest Castleford Tigers 11 86,888 7,898 9,557 5,946 Catalans Dragons 11 91,891 8,353 10,236 6,585 Huddersfield Giants 11 63,199 5,745 9,121 4,385 Hull FC 11 133,921 12,174 17,564 10,051 Hull KR 11 87,614 7,964 12,090 6,711 Leeds Rhinos 11 140,881 12,807 23,246 10,366 Salford Red Devils 11 30,236 2,748 5,568 2,248 St Helens 11 126,264 11,478 17,980 10,008 Wakefield Trinity 11 57,685 5,244 7,020 4,055 Warrington Wolves 11 110,969 10,088 12,268 8,792 Widnes Vikings 11 53,876 4,897 7,009 3,681 Wigan Warriors 10 117,084 11,708 16,047 10,641

Top 10 attendances Rank Home club Away club Stadium Attendance 1 Wigan Warriors Warrington Wolves Old Trafford 64,892 2 Magic Weekend: Day 1 St. James' Park 38,881 3 Magic Weekend: Day 2 St. James' Park 25,438 4 Leeds Rhinos Castleford Tigers Elland Road 23,246 5 St Helens Wigan Warriors Totally Wicked Stadium 17,980 6 Hull FC Hull KR KCOM Stadium 17,564 7 Leeds Rhinos Hull KR Elland Road 16,149 8 Wigan Warriors St Helens DW Stadium 16,047 9 Hull FC Huddersfield Giants KCOM Stadium 13,704 10 Hull FC Castleford Tigers KCOM Stadium 13,623

• Statistics correct as of 27 July 2018 (Round 23)

End-of-season awards

Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in the week leading up to the Super League Grand Final: ^[3]

• Coach of the year: Shaun Wane (Wigan Warriors)
• Foundation of the year: Leeds Rhinos
• Hit Man: Paul McShane (Castleford Tigers) (1160 tackles)
• Man of Steel: Ben Barba (St. Helens)
• Metre-maker: Bill Tupou (Wakefield Trinity) (4114 Metres)
• Rhino "Top Gun": Luke Gale (Castleford Tigers)
• Super League Club of The Year: Warrington Wolves
• Top Try Scorer: Ben Barba (St. Helens) (28)
• Young player of the year: Jake Trueman (Castleford Tigers)

Media

Television

2018 is the second of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 100 matches per season. ^[4]

Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights. ^[5]

Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Brian Carney, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m.

BBC Sport will broadcast a highlights programme called the Super League Show , presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West, Yorkshire, North East and Cumbria, and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One, ^[6] while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show is also available for one month after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only. ^[7] End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons. ^[8]

Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada).

Radio

BBC Coverage:

• BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (National DAB Digital Radio) will carry two Super League commentaries each week on Thursday and Friday nights (both kick off 8pm); this will be through the 5 Live Rugby league programme which is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and also includes interviews and debate..
• BBC Radio Humberside will have full match commentary of all Hull F.C. matches.
• BBC Radio Leeds carry commentaries featuring Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
• BBC Radio Manchester will carry commentary of Leigh, Wigan and Salford whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Merseyside.
• BBC Radio Merseyside will have commentary on St Helens and Widnes matches whilst sharing commentary of Warrington with BBC Radio Manchester.

Commercial Radio Coverage:

• 102.4 Wish FM will carry commentaries of Wigan & St Helens matches.
• 107.2 Wire FM will carry commentaries on Warrington Home and Away.
• Radio Yorkshire will launch in March carrying Super League commentaries.
• 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.

References

1. "First Utility powers title sponsorship of Super League". Super League. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
2. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan claim fifth title with victory over Warrington". BBC Sport. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
3. "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
4. Sky Sports (31 January 2014). "Super League deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
5. Sky Sports (18 February 2012). "Rugby League live on Sky". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
6. BBC Sport (3 February 2012). "BBC's Super League Show returns". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
7. BBC. "BBC One - Super League Show". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
8. "BBC Two - Rugby League: Super League Play-Offs - Highlights". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2013.

External links

• Official Site
• BBC Rugby League